Certified Polysomnographic Technician (CPSGT) Practice Exam 2026 - Free CPSGT Practice Questions and Study Guide

The device used to measure airflow during a polysomnographic study is a thermistor. This device senses changes in temperature, which allows it to detect airflow. When a person inhales or exhales, the temperature of the air changes, and this change is captured by the thermistor, providing valuable data about respiratory patterns during sleep.

In polysomnography, monitoring airflow is essential for diagnosing sleep-related breathing disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea. The thermistor provides a non-invasive means to measure this airflow, contributing to an understanding of the patient's respiratory function during different stages of sleep.

While pulse oximeters are used to measure oxygen saturation levels in the blood and EEG electrodes are employed to monitor brain activity, neither of these provides direct measurements of airflow. Electromyography leads record muscle activity, which, while important for understanding movement during sleep, do not measure airflow either. Thus, the thermistor is the appropriate choice for airflow measurement in this context.