World Sleep 2022 | The future of polysomnograms: a new age of portable and wearable technology

Gabriel Pires, PhD, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil, discusses polysomnography transitioning to a home environment. Polysomnography is used to analyze sleep, its respective stages and thus used as a diagnostic tool. However, it does have drawbacks – sleeping outside of comfort zones, being expensive, and not being readily available everywhere. This has incentivized the use of portable and wearable devices – creating new challenges whereby they work as effectively as clinical polysomnography. Many companies are currently developing technology to make this a reality, yet the variability of accuracy is great. Most sleep monitoring technology currently works best for individuals with no sleep disorders – which are not accurate in a clinical context and should not be used for diagnosis. The accuracy can reach 90% in those without sleep disorders, so Dr Pires states that the aim is to target individuals with sleep disorders like sleep apnea – bringing current portable and wearable technology to the same level as clinical polysomnograms. This interview took place at the World Sleep Congress 2022 in Rome, Italy.