Abstract
Sleep medicine has been an expanding discipline during the last few decades. The prevalence of sleep disorders is increasing, and sleep centers are expanding in hospitals and in the private care environment to meet the demands. Sleep medicine has evidence-based guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders. However, the number of sleep centers and caregivers in this area is not sufficient. Many new methods for recording sleep and diagnosing sleep disorders have been developed. Many sleep disorders are chronic conditions and require continuous treatment and monitoring of therapy success. Cost-efficient technologies for the initial diagnosis and for follow-up monitoring of treatment are important. It is precisely here that telemedicine technologies can meet the demands of diagnosis and therapy follow-up studies. Wireless recording of sleep and related biosignals allows diagnostic tools and therapy follow-up to be widely and remotely available. Moreover, sleep research requires new technologies to investigate underlying mechanisms in the regulation of sleep in order to better understand the pathophysiology of sleep disorders. Home recording and non-obtrusive recording over extended periods of time with telemedicine methods support this research. Telemedicine allows recording with little subject interference under normal and experimental life conditions.
Highlights
Sleep medicine is gaining importance because more and more people focus their attention on sleep complaints and sleep disorders
A recent meta-analysis by Peppard et al showed that 10% of men and 3% of women between the ages of 30 and years and 17% of men and 9% of women between the ages of and 70 years have obstructive sleep apnea[1]
From the results of this epidemiological study, it becomes obvious that only a subgroup of subjects with an apnea hypopnea index (AHI) of at least 15/hour seek medical help from a sleep physician
Summary
Sleep medicine is gaining importance because more and more people focus their attention on sleep complaints and sleep disorders. With an optimization of sensor technology, an improvement in signal-filtering methods, and the introduction of digital technology for signal processing and signal acquisition, it was possible to introduce an automatic analysis and diagnosis of sleep apnea in 1989 with additional information provided by the recording of oxygen saturation[25] This analysis has been validated against polysomnography. This could be realized such new hardware/software systems would require adequate validation This long-term monitoring of oximetry with an external sensor and smartphone recordings, analysis, and display has been realized for screening children with sleep apnea and hypopnea[33]. Whether these foreseen beneficial effects come true and are sustainable needs to be evaluated in large prospective trials using this new technology
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