METHOD, APPARATUS AND SYSTEM FOR CHARACTERIZING SLEEP

摘要

A method of determining a sleep apnea from signals of electrical activity recorded of a chest of a sleeping subject, the signals being measured over a plurality of epochs comprises (a) extracting a series of cardiac R-R intervals from the signals; (b) determining awakening periods of the sleeping subject and excluding cardiac R-R intervals corresponding to said awakening periods from said series of cardiac R-R intervals; (c) obtaining a power spectrum from said series of cardiac R-R intervals; and (d) using said power spectrum to determine the sleep apnea of the sleeping subject. This may be done by comparing a power spectrum component to a predetermined threshold. Additionally, a pattern recognition procedure may be employed to identify representative patterns of sleep apnea. Preferably the method further comprises determining body positions or a change in the body position.