Polysomnography for adults

Polysomnography is the preferred test to study all sleep disorders. It is performed during the night at Biron, under the supervision of a healthcare professional trained in sleep care.

Using sensors applied to various locations on your body, polysomnography can study the physical manifestations during your sleep by recording many signals of electrical activity from your brain, heart, as well as respiratory efforts. It also records the oxygen saturation level in your blood and other parameters for differentiating your sleep cycles and stages. It can detect, quantify and qualify the presence of anomalies such as:

• Sleep apnea (breathing problems)
• Periodic leg movements
• Paradoxical sleep behaviour disorder (physical behaviours linked to dreams)
• Bruxism (grinding and clenching of the teeth)
• Narcolepsy (sleepiness and sleep attacks during the day)

The data recorded during your polysomnography will be interpreted by a healthcare professional trained in sleep care and forwarded to your attending physician.

Biron’s healthcare professionals trained in sleep care will accompany you throughout the examination process. They will ensure your comfort and wellbeing.

Follow the steps below to prepare for the test:

• You may eat a normal meal before 7:00 pm. However, we ask that you refrain from consuming alcohol (e.g. beer, wine) or caffeine (e.g. coffee, tea, cola, chocolate) in the 6 hours before the test
• Please avoid using face cream or body lotion
• You may bring comfortable sleep wear and your own pillow. We provide towels, soap and shampoo, but you may also bring your own toiletries.

If necessary, remember to bring your usual medications.

A polysomnography is risk-free and causes no pain. In rare cases, you may experience temporary skin irritation where sensors were applied to your skin.

The following is the typical process for a polysomnography at on of Biron's clinics.

The results of the sleep test will be interpreted by one of our trained sleep specialists and made available on MyBiron.