PURPOSE: Home-polysomnography (HPSG) has been proposed as a cost-effective 
alternative for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) diagnosis. We assessed, in a 
feasibility study, whether telematic transmission using the Dream® and Sleepbox® 
technologies was associated with low HPSG failure rate.
METHODS: Patients referred by chest physicians for clinical suspicion of OSA 
underwent one HPSG, using Dream® and Sleepbox® (Medatec, Belgium), which is a 
wireless system able to communicate with Dream®, and with Internet through a 
wi-fi/3G interface. It is equipped with a digital infrared camera, and with a 
speaker/microphone system for bidirectional audio/video communication via 
Skype®. The Sleep Lab nurse performed a remote discontinuous monitoring of the 
PSG. In case of sensor loss, she called the patient who had been previously 
educated to replace the sensors.
RESULTS: Twenty-one patients have been studied. 90% of the recordings were of 
excellent quality. We observed a 10% PSG failure rate: one failure of the 
Dream®, and one recording of poor quality. There were 2 successful Skype® 
interventions resulting in readjustment of the defective probes (nasal cannula 
and EEG). PSG signal visualization was possible in 90% of cases but Skype® 
connection was problematic in 19% of cases. However, patients could be reached 
by phone to solve the problem.
CONCLUSIONS: Real-time attended HPSG through telematic data transmission is 
feasible and could be an interesting perspective to decrease the failure rate of 
home sleep studies, even if some technical aspects need to be improved.