The advancement in Artificial Intelligence and its application in our everyday life has become one of the ground-breaking innovations in human history. But did you ever think that AI could be a part of our sleep? As sleep is one of the most basic needs of human beings, these technologies like AI can enhance our sleeping habits as well as diagnose and treat many sleeping disorders too! Believe it or not, the application is already a part of the industry!

The emergence of AI in sleep medicine

For the past few years there has been a rapid emergence of Artificial Intelligence-enabled technology in the field of sleep medicine. The practice of sleep tracking and measuring the physiological signals in sleep has been widely practised around the world. Hence, sleep monitoring in lab and ambulatory environments increases massive amounts of data that uniquely positions the industry to gain more from AI. 

Studies have been conducted to develop an AI algorithm that will help doctors and researchers around the world to learn more about the sleeping disorders in the future and aid in treating the sleeping difficulties, sleep apnea and narcolepsy. According to a study few researchers from Department of Computer Science in University of Copenagen have collaborated with Danish Centre for Sleep Medicine at the Danish hospital Rigshopitalet and developed an AI algorithm that enables the doctors to improve the diagnoses, treatments and overall understanding of the sleep disorders. 

There is also an emergence of various AI startups that mainly focuses on innovations in mental health and behavioural patterns around the world. From programmes that help people to deal with anxiety issues to tracking and improving sleeping patterns, AI does a better job in the industry. As many people worldwide have a major headache in putting their minds to sleep and suffer from insomnia and other sleeping disorders, this kind of applicability of AI in sleep medicine can help them to an extent. With AI on the rise, there are now machines and other application that helps people to deal with bad sleeping habits and ensure they get enough rest they desire. 

The clinical application

According to a study, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine is the top professional society that is dedicated to promoting sleep health. As its mission is “advancing sleep care and enhancing sleep health to improve lives”, they endeavour to better the sleep health policy, which boosts the health and well-being of patients and the public. 

The huge volume of medical data clubbed with computational advances provides the potential to be more effectively care patients with better precision. AI and machine learning algorithms predominantly use experience and data to alter the parameters in order to enhance the performance on different tasks like classification without direct programming. 

The use of Polysomnography (PSG) that a sleep technologist measures are considered the cornerstone of objective testing in the sleep medicine field. It has resulted in the collection and storage of a huge amount of labelled physiological data. AI methods put forwards the vast opportunity to automate and improve the recording of sleep and other associated events while also recording other additional insights from the PSG data. If we properly use AI, it can streamline various clinical operations, offer better accuracy while evaluating and treating sleep disorders and thereby enhance patient outcomes. 

AI in sleep medicine in India

Dr Angshuman Das, a consultant Neuro Psychiatrist of Apollo Multispeciality Hospital, said to Financial Express that while AI is gaining much acceptance in the field globally, the penetration rate will vary according to countries. In India, a new AI-based smart cradle developed by a startup company has gained prominence. Made of sensors, they are used to observe the sleeping patterns and nuances of the baby. The device is also programmed to detect even the slight waking movement of baby and immediately will lull the baby back to sleep. This can be considered a ground-breaking approach where AI can help address troubling challenge of sleep among babies. 

The usage of big data in AI has become instrumental in sleep medicine for the past few years. Wearable sensors have gained importance which helps both patients and practitioners track their health records. Rather than relying on Electronic Medical Records, AI will be able to leverage big data that can produce higher levels of Electronic Health Records with high-level synchronisation of health constraints, time series and multi-level biopotentials. 

Better sleep not only boosts physical health but also enhances mental wholeness. Lack of sleep and an increase in sleeping disorders will affect not only your focus and orientation but also your productivity immensely. Therefore, the emergence of AI-based applications in sleep medicine is a game changer. 

Photo by Yuris Alhumaydy on Unsplash