Tatch: Easy at-home sleep testing

Good sleep is linked to better heart health, more robust immune functions, and faster glucose metabolization. Poor sleep impairs concentration, increases accidents, and taxes brain functions. And yet, the data collection on sleep and sleep tracking is mostly untapped. While the Apple Watch and the Oura ring are trying to capture this data and track sleep for the general population, Tatch is approaching sleep monitoring from a diagnostic perspective. Their CEO is interested in helping people who already know something is off, and wants to understand it clinically.

Doing a nocturnal polysomnography, or an overnight sleep test at a sleep disorder center, can create a few additional variables - a new location, anxiety around medical staff coming and going, and discomfort with the equipment involved to monitor heart, lung and brain activity, breathing patterns, movement, and blood oxygen levels. Tatch is working on a simple, at-home testing product that can be administered in the comfort of your own bed. Current at-home tests can be bulky and don't always detect all cases of sleep apnea, so a night at a sleep center is likely still prescribed even if your initial results come back normal. The patent-pending Tatch patch aims to eliminate this costly and unnerving step by delivering the experience at a sleep clinic in its 3-inch wearable. The patch is attached to the torso and collects respiratory effort, airflow, oxygen levels, body movement, and more. In addition to sleep apnea, the sensors will also pick up on restless leg syndrome, insomnia, and even some respiratory illnesses. 

In the time of COVID-19, the ability to get answers without leaving home is a considerable boost for all health applications. Tatch is targeting its commercial launch for early 2021, pending FDA clearance.