Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 5, 2026
Measurement Of Neuromagnetic Brain Function In Pre-school Children With Custom Sized MEG
Published on: February 19, 2010
Mandibular Movement Monitoring in Children With Neurodisability
Andrew J Collaro1,2, Kiara D Sclip1, Lydia R Penny1,2
1Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, Queensland Children's Hospital, South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Insights
Sunrise, a chin sensor, shows promise for diagnosing obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) in children with neurodisability, demonstrating good sensitivity for moderate-severe OSA. Parents also expressed interest in alternative sleep testing methods.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Sleep Medicine
- Neurodisability Research
- Medical Device Technology
Background:
- Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) diagnosis in children typically relies on polysomnography (PSG).
- Children with neurodisability often experience challenges with PSG lead and sensor tolerance.
- The diagnostic accuracy of novel sensors like Sunrise in this population is not well-established.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the diagnostic accuracy of the Sunrise device against in-laboratory PSG in children with neurodisability.
- To assess the feasibility and acceptance of Sunrise technology in this specific pediatric group.
Main Methods:
- A prospective, cross-sectional study involving children aged 3-18 years with neurodisability.
- Simultaneous recording of Sunrise and PSG data for sleep disordered breathing assessment.
- Collection of questionnaire data on carer preferences for sleep study modalities.
Main Results:
- Sunrise demonstrated a sensitivity of 0.88 and specificity of 0.63 for moderate-severe OSA in children with neurodisability.
- The concordance correlation coefficient for the obstructive respiratory disturbance index was 0.65.
- A majority of carers preferred the Sunrise device over limited-channel or full PSG, despite preferring in-laboratory over home studies.
Conclusions:
- Sunrise exhibits strong potential for excluding moderate-severe OSA in children with neurodisability, with moderate specificity.
- There is significant interest from parents and carers in alternative sleep testing solutions.
- Sunrise may offer a more tolerable diagnostic option for this vulnerable pediatric population.
Background:
Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) in children is diagnosed using polysomnography (PSG), but children with neurodisability are >3 times more likely to not tolerate leads and sensors. The diagnostic accuracy of Sunrise, a small sensor applied to the chin, has not been assessed in this special population.
Objective:
Compare the diagnostic accuracy of Sunrise to simultaneously recorded in-laboratory PSG.
Methods:
We conducted a prospective, cross-sectional study of children aged 3-18 years with neurodisability, who attended the Queensland Children's Hospital sleep laboratory for diagnostic PSG between February 2024 and September 2025. Sunrise- and PSG-derived measures of sleep disordered breathing were compared, and questionnaire data examining interest in novel sensor technology, and portable, home-based sleep studies were also collected.
Results:
There were 48 children with a neurodisability (mean [SD] age = 11.2 [3.6]; 39% female). For 43 children with complete Sunrise data, sensitivity and specificity for identifying moderate-severe obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) using calibrated MM-ORDI were 0.88 (95% CI: 0.45-1.00) and 0.63 (95% CI: 0.45-0.79), respectively. The concordance correlation coefficient of the obstructive respiratory disturbance index was 0.65 (95% CI: 0.5-0.8) and the median absolute error was 5.7 (IQR: 2.7-13.1) events per hour. Most carers in attendance preferred in-laboratory sleep studies (56%) to home (33%), but the majority preferred Sunrise (50%) to limited-channel (17%) or full PSG (10%).
Conclusion:
Sunrise shows excellent ability to exclude moderate-severe OSA in children with neurodisability with moderate specificity. There is substantial appetite among parents and carers for alternative sleep testing modalities.
