This mattress also features a gel layer to dissipate heat and a top layer of memory foam.Īccording to Ojile, one of the biggest considerations for selecting mattresses is the size of the patients, who tend to be larger than the average hotel guest. Labs managed by Clayton Sleep Institute collect surveys and adjust the spaces as feedback comes in.Īir bladders, such as the one shown in this cutaway of a Sizewise Instant Comfort Sleep Lab Bed, are a popular choice for sleep labs. It’s also not uncommon for labs to collect surveys to measure their patients’ satisfaction levels with their test experience. Granola bars are usually on hand, distributed by the sleep techs after the test is complete, says Rebecca Spencer, PhD, neuroscientist at the lab and UMass professor. This way they can bring food to fix for breakfast before they head off to work or school in the morning. “The patients come in and they feel like they are going to a nice, warm, welcoming hotel,” says Ojile.Īt the sleep research lab on the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (UMass), campus, participants have access to a small kitchen just steps away from the bedrooms. There are individual heating and cooling systems in each room, so the patient can adjust the temperature to their liking. Big recliners are nearby, where the patients can read by dim lighting before their test. Flat screen TVs perch over the head of the beds. Joseph Ojile, MD, DABSM, founder and chief medical officer at Clayton Sleep Institute in Missouri, says he has embraced the patients’ wishes for a “hotel experience” in the sleep labs his company manages throughout the Midwest.įor example, when possible, the medical supplies and wires are kept tucked away in a closet. “I’ve had complaints that I didn’t have a pillow menu.” “They expect to be fed and treated as if it’s a hotel, not a medical test-on their schedule,” says Paula Applegate, RPSGT, manager of the sleep disorders center and neurodiagnostics lab at TriStar Centennial’s Sleep Disorders Center in Nashville, Tenn. But many sleep lab managers would agree that as an infinite number of mattress options have flooded the consumer market over the last few years, labs have been forced to keep up with their patients’ growing expectations. Most labs tend to bypass the high-tech in favor of practical considerations, including infection control, overall cost, and how adaptable the mattresses are for people with comorbid conditions and high BMIs. It turns out that picking mattresses for both clinical and research settings is less scientific than the sleep studies that these furnishings help capture. Then, of course, there are the pillow tops, and the memory foams that manufacturers say are useful for getting restful slumber, but how does all this technology in today’s consumer mattress industry affect mattress selection in sleep labs? One new bed on the market gently rocks throughout the night, so even an adult can sleep like a baby. There are eco-friendly mattresses that come with the promise of being made from organic, nontoxic materials. A robust consumer mattress market means patient expectations are high, but practical considerations such as weight range, firmness, and ease of disinfection remain top of mind for sleep center managers.Ī bed is no longer just a bed.
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