Wesper Journal

Subclinical sleep apnea represents the often-overlooked middle ground between benign snoring and clinically diagnosed obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Though these patients may not meet the standard AHI ≥ 5 threshold, they frequently experience measurable physiological disruptions — including flow-limited breathing, mild oxygen desaturations, and fragmented sleep. These subtle patterns contribute to increased cardiovascular strain, metabolic dysregulation, and cognitive impairment long before overt disease appears. Traditional single-night polysomnography often misses these early deviations, leaving at-risk patients undiagnosed until symptoms or comorbidities worsen. Advancements in medical-grade home sleep testing (HSAT) are changing that trajectory. By capturing true respiratory effort, oxygenation, and positional data across multiple nights in the patient’s natural environment, systems like Wesper’s allow clinicians to detect the earliest signs of airway instability and hypoxic burden. This longitudinal insight enables proactive intervention — through lifestyle changes, airway optimization, or targeted therapy — before OSA becomes entrenched. As Dr. Chelsie Rohrscheib, PhD, notes, medical-grade HSAT redefines the future of sleep medicine by shifting care from reactive diagnosis to preventive precision.