The static-charge-sensitive bed in the monitoring of respiration during sleep in infants and young children.

The performance of the static-charge-sensitive bed (SCSB) in the monitoring of nocturnal breathing was studied in 22 infants and young children at the mean age of 24 weeks (SD 24, range 1-79 weeks). The conventional polysomnogram (PSG) was used as a reference method. Episodes of central apnoea were detected with high sensitivity by the SCSB. Episodes of obstructive apnoea and obstructive parts of mixed apnoea were not identified. When the SCSB recordings were scored with the airflow signal some mixed events were identified, but the detection of obstructive apnoea episodes remained poor. Partial upper airway obstruction increased the amount of SCSB spiking (high-frequency components of breathing), which may have diagnostic value. In conclusion, the SCSB enables simple, non-invasive detection of central apnoea episodes, periodic breathing and the behavioural state of the child.