“It’s similar to the way bats navigate,” scientist says.
Smartphones already have the ability to monitor human health. Apps these days can track the amount of calories burned throughout the day, determine a user’s heart rate and follow one’s sleeping patterns.
The old way to find out if you have sleep apnea … now you can test yourself with a smartphone and University of Washington app. (Getty Images)
Now, a new app in the development stage at the University of Washington can wirelessly detect sleep apnea episodes, potentially saving those who suffer from the sleep disorder thousands of dollars.
Sleep apnea is a sleeping disorder that is commonly caused by blockage of the airway (obstructive sleep apnea) or the brain failing to signal muscles to breath during sleep (central sleep apnea). Obstructive sleep apnea, which is much more common, affects roughly 25 million Americans.
The current system for diagnosing sleep apnea requires an overnight stay at the hospital and deep pockets. Patients are hooked up to a ridiculous mass of wires and undergo an extensive polysomnography test to track the amount of times he or she struggles to breath throughout the night. In the end, the overnight examination costs thousands of dollars.
How the app works
There are home sleep apnea tests that function similarly, but the new app, named ApneaApp, uses sonar technology to track breathing patterns without a person having to sleep amidst a tangle of wires and sensors.
ApneaApp sends inaudible sound waves from the phone’s speaker that bounce off people in their sleep to track miniscule changes in their breathing pattern. The returning sound waves are then picked up by the phone’s microphone.
“It’s similar to the way bats navigate,” said Rajalakshmi Nandakumar, lead author and a Ph.D. student in the UW’s department of computer science and engineering. “They send out sound signals that hit a target, and when those signals bounce back they know something is there.”
Since sound wave patterns can change due to distance, the app is able to distinguish between the breathing patterns of two different people sleeping side by side. It efficiently traces breathing patterns from distances up to three feet, so users can place their smartphones at their bedside tables, as they normally would. Regardless of one’s sleeping position, ApneaApp can track breathing patterns—even when the person is underneath a blanket.
The high frequency of the app’s emitted sound waves, which adults cannot hear, means that other audible sounds, such as talking, fans and street noise aren’t picked up by the microphone. And while children may hear ApneaApp’s high-pitched sound waves, researchers are developing a newer version with sound waves that will be inaudible to all humans.
Researchers believe the app could be available to smartphone users within the next two years.
What the fuss is about
Sleep apnea affects roughly one in thirteen Americans, and most who suffer from the sleep disorder are unaware of their condition. Part of this boils down to the small number of sleep specialists.
“Right now we don’t have enough sleep clinics, sleep laboratories and sleep specialists in the country to address all the sleep apnea that is out there,” said co-author Dr. Nathaniel F. Watson, professor of neurology and co-director of the UW Medicine Sleep Center.
ApneaApp could provide consumers with an economical and accessible method of testing for sleep apnea. Insurance companies typically only cover one trip to the doctor for a sleep test, and even then, a diagnosis based off one test may be misrepresentative of a patient’s regular breathing pattern. With the UW-created app, people have the ability to track their breathing pattern for multiple days, creating a more accurate representation.
The app is still in the preliminary stages of development—it is currently undergoing more tests to validate results, while researchers are also seeing if the app can track other minimal body movements during sleep.
However, with accuracy rates of 95 to 99 percent compared to the test currently done at hospitals, ApneaApp may be a consumer reality soon. 300 hours of testing have already been completed at Harborview Medical Center.
“These initial results are impressive and suggest that ApneaApp has the potential to be a simple, noninvasive way for the average person to identify sleep apnea events at home and hopefully seek treatment,” said Wilson.
Considering researchers are still seeking federal Food and Drug Administration approval—and that children can hear the emitted sound waves—ApneaApp has some areas to improve on before consumer access. However, the signs are encouraging. With more readily accessible testing methods, sleep apnea can be more widely diagnosed to those who actually suffer from the bizarre sleeping disorder.
Sleep apnea is one of many strange medical conditions. Here is a list of others that we have compiled:
from The Big Science Blog http://ift.tt/1bXsAMv
“It’s similar to the way bats navigate,” scientist says.
Smartphones already have the ability to monitor human health. Apps these days can track the amount of calories burned throughout the day, determine a user’s heart rate and follow one’s sleeping patterns.
The old way to find out if you have sleep apnea … now you can test yourself with a smartphone and University of Washington app. (Getty Images)
Now, a new app in the development stage at the University of Washington can wirelessly detect sleep apnea episodes, potentially saving those who suffer from the sleep disorder thousands of dollars.
Sleep apnea is a sleeping disorder that is commonly caused by blockage of the airway (obstructive sleep apnea) or the brain failing to signal muscles to breath during sleep (central sleep apnea). Obstructive sleep apnea, which is much more common, affects roughly 25 million Americans.
The current system for diagnosing sleep apnea requires an overnight stay at the hospital and deep pockets. Patients are hooked up to a ridiculous mass of wires and undergo an extensive polysomnography test to track the amount of times he or she struggles to breath throughout the night. In the end, the overnight examination costs thousands of dollars.
How the app works
There are home sleep apnea tests that function similarly, but the new app, named ApneaApp, uses sonar technology to track breathing patterns without a person having to sleep amidst a tangle of wires and sensors.
ApneaApp sends inaudible sound waves from the phone’s speaker that bounce off people in their sleep to track miniscule changes in their breathing pattern. The returning sound waves are then picked up by the phone’s microphone.
“It’s similar to the way bats navigate,” said Rajalakshmi Nandakumar, lead author and a Ph.D. student in the UW’s department of computer science and engineering. “They send out sound signals that hit a target, and when those signals bounce back they know something is there.”
Since sound wave patterns can change due to distance, the app is able to distinguish between the breathing patterns of two different people sleeping side by side. It efficiently traces breathing patterns from distances up to three feet, so users can place their smartphones at their bedside tables, as they normally would. Regardless of one’s sleeping position, ApneaApp can track breathing patterns—even when the person is underneath a blanket.
The high frequency of the app’s emitted sound waves, which adults cannot hear, means that other audible sounds, such as talking, fans and street noise aren’t picked up by the microphone. And while children may hear ApneaApp’s high-pitched sound waves, researchers are developing a newer version with sound waves that will be inaudible to all humans.
Researchers believe the app could be available to smartphone users within the next two years.
What the fuss is about
Sleep apnea affects roughly one in thirteen Americans, and most who suffer from the sleep disorder are unaware of their condition. Part of this boils down to the small number of sleep specialists.
“Right now we don’t have enough sleep clinics, sleep laboratories and sleep specialists in the country to address all the sleep apnea that is out there,” said co-author Dr. Nathaniel F. Watson, professor of neurology and co-director of the UW Medicine Sleep Center.
ApneaApp could provide consumers with an economical and accessible method of testing for sleep apnea. Insurance companies typically only cover one trip to the doctor for a sleep test, and even then, a diagnosis based off one test may be misrepresentative of a patient’s regular breathing pattern. With the UW-created app, people have the ability to track their breathing pattern for multiple days, creating a more accurate representation.
The app is still in the preliminary stages of development—it is currently undergoing more tests to validate results, while researchers are also seeing if the app can track other minimal body movements during sleep.
However, with accuracy rates of 95 to 99 percent compared to the test currently done at hospitals, ApneaApp may be a consumer reality soon. 300 hours of testing have already been completed at Harborview Medical Center.
“These initial results are impressive and suggest that ApneaApp has the potential to be a simple, noninvasive way for the average person to identify sleep apnea events at home and hopefully seek treatment,” said Wilson.
Considering researchers are still seeking federal Food and Drug Administration approval—and that children can hear the emitted sound waves—ApneaApp has some areas to improve on before consumer access. However, the signs are encouraging. With more readily accessible testing methods, sleep apnea can be more widely diagnosed to those who actually suffer from the bizarre sleeping disorder.
Sleep apnea is one of many strange medical conditions. Here is a list of others that we have compiled:
from The Big Science Blog http://ift.tt/1bXsAMv
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire