[Diagnosis of sleep apnea: required equipment for staged diagnosis]

In view of the high prevalence of sleep apnoea (SA) a stepped concept for diagnosis and therapy is needed. Such a concept requires appropriate instrumentation. The apparative requirement for a five-stage concept, and the experience gained with it, are presented, in particular these newly introduced stages: screening instrument, based on an analysis of heart rate and breathing sounds, and a mobile sleep laboratory based on oxygen saturation measurement combined with inductive plethysmography and four further parameters. Experience obtained with such a stepped concept demonstrates its efficiency and necessity in the diagnosis of sleep-related breathing disturbances.