Evaluation of a radar-based XeThru sensor to assess respiratory rate in suspected OSA

<bold>Background:</bold> Contactless sensors, if validated in the user population and combined with relevant other sensors, may be of interest for diagnostics and therapy follow-up for obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). Radar sensors could be used to measure respiratory rate and respiratory effort. <bold>Aims and Objectives:</bold> The aim was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the radar sensor compared to sleep laboratory polygraphy in the measurement of respiratory rate (RR) in patients with suspected OSA. <bold>Methods:</bold> The RR was measured using the radar sensor (ultra-wide band XeThru X4M200 sensor, Novelda, Norway) mounted at the head end at an angle of 55° as well as the flow signal from nasal pressure prongs (NP) and thoracic-respiratory induction plethysmography (THO) in an in-lab polygraphy performed at the same time and compared in patients with and without OSA. <bold>Results:</bold> Out of 56 patients (age (SD) 50.6 (14.5) y, 25% women, apnoea-hypopnea index 14(20)/h), 27 had an AHI ≥15/h (OSA) and 21 <10/h (no OSA). The Pearson’s correlation coefficient showed a high correlation between the mean RR estimated with the radar sensor and the polygraphy with no relevant influence of presence of OSA, AHI or used channel (THO or NP). <bold>Conclusions:</bold> The XeThru sensor shows good reliability in measuring respiratory rate in the presence or absence of OSA and could be used as a contactless sensor together with the channels necessary for OSA diagnostics (e.g. airflow). <fig><object-id>erj;64/suppl_68/PA4466/F1</object-id><object-id>F1</object-id><object-id>F1</object-id><graphic></graphic></fig>