Patna: Darbhanga-based Shekhar Netralaya and ENT Hospital launched a sleep lab, a first-of-its-kind facility in Darbhanga, on Saturday.
Darbhanga Medical College principal R.K. Sinha and assistant professor Kamlesh Jha of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Patna's physiology department inaugurated the facility, which aims to address sleep disorders, including insomnia (loss of sleep) and sleep apnoea (sleep disorder which occurs due to breathing problem).
A polysomnography machine worth around Rs 25 lakh has been installed at the sleep lab, which gathers information on eyeball movements, chest movement, abdomen movement, sleep stages, heartbeat and brainwaves among other things.
Patients suffering from sleep disorder will be hooked to the polysomnography machine overnight in the sleep lab so that their sleeping pattern can be analysed with the help of machine and on the basis of their sleep study, further treatment will be prescribed.
"We began the new facility because we were getting many patients of insomnia and sleep apnoea," said Dr Amit Shekhar, ENT surgeon of Shekhar Netralaya and ENT Hospital.
"A lot of people don't really know that whether they are suffering from sleep disorder. They come to us with complaints of daytime sleepiness, irritability and lethargy, while some complain about blood pressure fluctuation and palpitation. The saturation level of oxygen in the body dips below normal in sleep apnoea."
"So there are times when the patient is actually not breathing properly during the apnoea episode for 10 seconds or so. The oxygen level falls as low as 60 to 70 per cent," said Dr Shekhar.
On how much patients have to pay for the sleep pattern study, he replied: "Anywhere between Rs 6,000 and Rs 8,000 per night at the sleep lab."
An advanced audio-vestibular investigation unit (aimed to address hearing-related problems) was also inaugurated at the hospital.
Hospital's director Ashish Shekhar said the hospital will expand facilities, which were so far not available in the district, to rid patients the hassle of visit hospitals outside Darbhanga.
