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. 2013 Winter;49(4):11-4.

The Rematee Bumper Belt(®) positional therapy device for snoring and obstructive sleep apnea: Positional effectiveness in healthy subjects

Les Matthews  1 , Normand Fortier  1
Affiliations

The Rematee Bumper Belt(®) positional therapy device for snoring and obstructive sleep apnea: Positional effectiveness in healthy subjects

Les Matthews et al. Can J Respir Ther. 2013 Winter.

Abstract
in English, French

The present study was designed to investigate body position changes resulting from wearing a Rematee Bumper Belt (Rematee, Canada) during sleep. The majority of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients will experience up to two times as many apneas and hypopneas while supine relative to lateral or prone body positions during sleep. It has been suggested that a positional therapy device could reduce the number of apneas and hypopneas in such patients. The present study was conducted to determine whether the Rematee Bumper Belt positional therapy device could prevent healthy subjects from sleeping in the supine position. Test subjects wore the belt for one to two nights. Each belt was equipped with an accelerometer that was used to measure the orientation of the belt relative to the horizontal plane. The results suggest that the belt creates an exclusion zone approximately 80° wide centred near the supine orientation, where subjects are effectively prevented to enter. Results of the present preliminary study suggests that the Rematee Bumper Belt positional therapy device is effective at limiting healthy subjects from sleeping in a supine position. The device appears to be most effective between 150° and 230°. A device with this capability may provide an inexpensive and potentially effective alternative treatment option for patients with OSA. This device has the capacity for reducing snoring and the apnea-hypopnea index in individuals with positional OSA.

La présente étude a été conçue pour examiner les changements de position corporelle découlant du port de la Rematee Bumper Belt (Rematee, Canada) pendant le sommeil. La majorité des patients présentant une apnée obstructive du sommeil (AOS) auront jusqu’à deux fois plus d’épisodes d’apnée et d’hypopnée en supination qu’en position latérale ou ventrale pendant le sommeil. Il a été avancé qu’un appareil de thérapie positionnelle pourrait réduire le nombre d’apnées et d’hypopnées chez ces patients. La présente étude a été menée pour déterminer si l’appareil de thérapie positionnelle Rematee Bumper Belt pouvait empêcher les sujets de dormir sur le dos. Les sujets à l’étude ont porté la ceinture une ou deux nuits. Chaque ceinture était munie d’un accéléromètre pour en mesurer l’orientation par rapport au plan horizontal. D’après les résultats, la ceinture créait une zone d’exclusion d’environ 80° centrée près de l’orientation de supination, où les sujets sont incapables de pénétrer. Selon les résultats de la présente étude préliminaire, l’appareil de thérapie positionnelle Rematee Bumper Belt empêche les sujets en santé de dormir sur le dos. L’appareil semble plus efficace entre 150° et 230°. Un appareil ayant cette capacité peut constituer un traitement peu coûteux au potentiel efficace pour les patients ayant une AOS. Il peut réduire le ronflement et l’indice d’apnée-hypopnée chez les patients présentant une AOS positionnelle.

Keywords: Body position; Positional obstructive sleep apnea; Positional sensor; Rematee Bumper Belt; Snoring.

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Figures

Figure 1)
Figure 1)
The Rematee Bumper Belt (Rematee, Canada) used in the present study. The belt includes shoulder straps with three inflatable bumpers. The rectangular outline of the accelerometer, located inside a pouch, is apparent in the centre of the photograph
Figure 2)
Figure 2)
A The sensor measured acceleration along three orthogonal directions. B A subject lying horizontally places the y-axis of the sensor in the same direction. In this case, gx = −g sin(ϕ), gy= 0 and gz = g cos(ϕ). C Correspondence between and sleeping positions for a subject lying horizontally
Figure 3)
Figure 3)
Evolution of the angle as a function of time for a subject wearing an inflated belt. For the first 12 min, the subject sleeps in a near prone position (∼350°). For the next 44 min, the subject sleeps on the right side (∼264°). At 44 min, the subject rolls to the right, briefly passing through the prone position. The subject remains on the right side (∼84°) for the final 12 min of the 60 min recording
Figure 4)
Figure 4)
Histogram showing the probability of observing a subject sleeping in a given orientation while wearing an inflated Rematee Bumper Belt (Rematee, Canada). The histogram was obtained by measuring the sleep orientation of nine subjects for 44 h while wearing an inflated belt. The area under the curve between 150° and 230° is equal to 2.0%, indicating that the inflated belt is effective at preventing sleep in a supine position
Figure 5)
Figure 5)
Histogram showing the probability of observing a subject sleeping in a given orientation while wearing a noninflated Rematee Bumper Belt (Rematee, Canada). The histogram was obtained by measuring the sleep orientation of 12 subjects for 67 h while wearing a noninflated belt. The area under the curve between 150° and 230° is equal to 24%, indicating that a noninflated belt is ineffective at preventing sleep in a supine position
Figure 6)
Figure 6)
When inflated, the Rematee Bumper Belt (Rematee, Canada) creates an exclusion zone approximately 80° wide centred around the supine orientation, in which the subjects are effectively prevented to enter
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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