11Nov Computer Science Provides a More Sound Way to Test for Sleep Apnea
University of Houston computer scientist Ioannis Pavlidis and University of Texas Health Science Center physician Jayasimha N. Murthy are developing a less invasive method of diagnosing sleep apnea. Diagnosing sleep apnea usually requires a sleep study, which involves at least one night of overnight monitoring in a sleep lab. “During a sleep study a subject has an average of more than 20 sensors attached to the head and body. It’s a very complex procedure where many physiological parameters are simultaneously monitored to help in the diagnosis of sleep disorders,” Murthy says. “However, these sensors can disturb sleep and contribute to the patient’s anxiety.” The researchers have developed a new procedure that uses a thermal infrared camera to monitor breathing waveforms and airflow as subjects breathe in and out of their noses. The measurements are processed using computational algorithms to provide results that have proven to be as accurate as traditional methods. The researchers say their method provides doctors with more information about a patient’s breathing. “In contrast to the traditional one-dimensional methods, this new method is an imaging one and thus, multi-dimensional,” Pavlidis says. “We get not a single, but multiple values for each nostril at every point in time and this makes a lot of difference when it comes to appreciating subtle pathology.”
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