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Detrended Fluctuation Analysis of Oxyhemoglobin Saturation by Pulse Oximetry in Sleep Apnea Syndrome

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Abstract

Variability of oxyhemoglobin saturation during sleep has been utilized as diagnostic index for sleep apnea. This work examined the parameters of a detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) plot created from series data for oxyhemoglobin saturation during a sleep study in 273 subjects. A novel automated algorithm was devised to measure the parameters of a DFA log–log plot that included the slopes of 4 line segments and the coordinates and angles of their intersections. The diagnostic value of the parameters was investigated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves using apnea/hypopnea index (AHI) cutoff values of 5, 15, and 30. Three of the DFA plot parameters exhibited an area under the ROC curve ≥0.89 for all three AHI cutoff values. Principal component analysis found a surrogate variable that increased the areas under ROC curves to greater than 0.92 for all of the AHI cutoff values. The algorithm was “leave-one-out” cross-validated and validated in another 206 subjects receiving polysomnographic studies. The results demonstrate that the DFA plot of oxyhemoglobin saturation is a useful tool for screening subjects with sleep apnea.

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  1. Department of Internal Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Keelung & Chang Gung University, 222 Maijin Road, Keelung, 204, Taiwan

    Chung-Ching Hua & Chung-Chieh Yu

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  1. Chung-Ching Hua
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Correspondence to Chung-Ching Hua.

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Hua, CC., Yu, CC. Detrended Fluctuation Analysis of Oxyhemoglobin Saturation by Pulse Oximetry in Sleep Apnea Syndrome. J. Med. Biol. Eng. 37, 791–799 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40846-017-0251-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40846-017-0251-3

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