1378 Personal Electronics as a Cause of Artifact During Sleep Study

Abstract Introduction Physiological and non-physiological artifacts during polysomnogram have been described as extra signals in a recording channel that can obscure or provide false data. Here we present a case of cell phone artifact seen during polysomnogram study. Report of case(s) A 52-year-old female with history of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) was referred to our sleep lab for polysomnogram with positive airway pressure (PAP) titration. PAP titration was started with pressure at 8 cm H20 and titrated up to final pressure of 12 cm H20, which was effective in treating her OSA. During review of the polysomnogram, an artifact was noticed which was seen in all three frontal, central and occipital electroencephalography (EEG), bilateral electrooculography (EOG) and chin electromyography (EMG) channels. In addition, snore channel also had electronic interference. The pattern was composed of 20-22 Hz sinusoidal waves. The artifacts were seen despite use of notch filter. Review of the video recording showed that the artifact started when the patient woke up from sleep and started holding her phone. Then the artifact continued when her arm was laying on the phone. Artifact disappeared when technician moved the phone from under her arm to the bedside table. Conclusion Cell phones can cause potential interference during polysomnogram recordings. It has been recommended to keep electronic devices at least 3 feet away from laboratory equipment, preferably turned off and patient should not be touching the device during recording to minimize confounding results. Sleep technicians and physicians should be aware about the potential interference as these signals can mimic sleep spindles; can be misinterpreted in chin EMG as high muscle tone as well as lead to other misinterpretations. Review of audio/video recordings during interpretation can help provide clues to identify the artifacts. Our case demonstrated that the sleep technician was able to recognize the artifact that was associated with cell phone and the artifact disappeared after the phone was moved away from the patient. Support (if any)