Insomnia and the new generation of sleep trackers

Do you suffer from insomnia? I don't, but I am a light sleeper. Insomnia is medical issue that affects approximately 6% of people and is defined as the following:

Insomnia, or sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder in which there is an inability to fall asleep or to stay asleep as long as desired.... [T]his sleep disorder is often practically defined as a positive response to either of two questions: "Do you experience difficulty sleeping?" or "Do you have difficulty falling or staying asleep?"

There are serious medical problems associated with insomnia:

"Insomnia can be short term (up to three weeks) or long term (above 3–4 weeks), which can lead to memory problems, depression, irritability and an increased risk of heart disease and automobile related accidents."

Many treatments for insomnia exist from hypnosis to cognitive behavioral therapy to medications like sleeping pills and sedatives. However not all people benefit from these treatments.

More generally, a new study reports that the optimum amount of sleep is 7-9 hours, and that "skimping on a full night's sleep, even by 20 minutes, impairs performance and memory the next day." For me, this is true; my body can tell the difference between 8 hours versus 7 hours of sleep (I need 8 hours). Clearly getting your shut-eye is important.

Not surprisingly, modern technology has entered this space. Just as there is technology to track you when you are awake, now there is technology to track you while you sleep. These sleep trackers take different forms from smartphone apps to additional functionality in activity trackers to dedicated devices that you wear or attach to your bed. They can track movement, noise, light, and even some of your vital signs, all while you sleep.

The New York Times has a nice review of various types of sleep trackers, and I excerpt selected passages here. First up are the smartphone apps that can record noise and movement:

"The most basic sleep trackers are cellphone apps that record when users fall asleep and wake up. Some, like Sleepbot and Sleep Cycle, also use the phone’s microphone and accelerometer to record noise and movement, so people can confirm that a siren woke them at 3 a.m. These apps also incorporate an alarm clock that wakes people within a half-hour at the lightest point in their sleep cycle."

Then there are the the activity trackers that possess auxiliary sleep tracking functionality:

"Wristband devices like Fitbit, Jawbone UP and Basis can measure how soundly people sleep based on data about things like how much they move at night. The gadgets offer online charts for tracking sleep patterns over time."

Finally, and perhaps most interestingly, there are the more specialized devices. Some are multi-component systems in which you may wear a component while another component is a sensor that is strapped to your blanket or mattress, and a third might be on your nightstand monitoring your environment. One example is Beddit which consists of two devices:

1. A sensitively-designed bedside device that records your sleep environment (noise pollution, room temperature, and light level), and provides with scientifically-validated light, and sound programs.
2. A soft and discreet sensor that slips under your mattress to monitor your personal sleep patterns, and cycles (body movements, breathing cycles, heart rate).

How does Beddit measure heart and breathing rate? It uses ballistocardiography (BCG), which I had a post on earlier with respect to health monitors clipped to your ear: "BCG measures the motion of the body caused by pumping of the blood. From this signal, BCG can provide continuous information about heart rate, respiratory rate, cardiac output, and even blood pressure."

Taken together Beddit provides a picture of both your external environment (noise, temperature, light) and your internal environment (body movement, breathing, heart rate), and then sends these data to your smartphone via Bluetooth where it can be further analyzed.

One possibility for the more advanced systems is to combine their data with medical treatment, and one sleep tracker (SleepRate) is aiming in that direction:

"The SleepRate system uses cognitive behavioral therapy, licensed from Stanford University, to treat insomnia. SleepRate users wear a heart rate monitor while their cellphone microphones monitor nighttime sounds. Based on data analysis after five days, people showing signs of insomnia are presented with a personalized sleep regimen."

Indeed this type of sophisticated at-home sleep tracking is starting to resemble a sleep lab. One functionality that is missing is videotaping the subject while they sleep, which perhaps can be added to future generations of sleep trackers.

I am optimistic that in the future as these sleep trackers become further refined, the resulting information will help to combat sleep issues including insomnia in conjunction with more traditional medical treatments.

Figure 1. It's not always easy getting a good night's sleep and products like Beddit aim to provide detailed information to help you understand your sleep patterns.