Good Sleep Habits Determined by Measuring Heart Rate and Breathing

A third of the world's population is affected by issues such as difficulty falling asleep, frequent waking, and poor quality of sleep. Joonas Paalasmaa of the University of Helsinki in Finland may have found a way to help those that suffer from sleep-related problems.

In his doctoral dissertation, Paalasmaa sought to discover a way for the everyday person to measure their quality of sleep. His findings were presented today at the university.

His new measuring method employs a flexible film sensor that is placed under bed sheets. This device is used to measure the sleeper's movement, heart rate and breathing. The sensor has the ability to record an individual's amount of sleep, snoring and resting heart rate throughout the night, which the user can then see the next morning using an online service.

The device can measure heart rate and breathing data without being in direct contact with the sleeper's body. It detects the heart rate and breathing from the signals that it processes through an algorithm. Its application is very convenient because it can be done in the comfort of one's home without any further assistance, which is why the product is already available on the market.

"Discovering an easy way to track sleep could help improve sleep quality. The current measuring methods are uncomfortable and designed mainly for medical diagnoses, so they are unsuitable for measuring sleep independently at home," explained Paalasmaa in this EurekAlert! article.

In the product's commercial form, the sensor sends all of the collected data wirelessly to a mobile device. The user can then view the recorded heart rate and breathing data. Based on the results from the sensor's recordings, a mobile app will provide suggestions and instruction for sleep improvement.

Joonas Paalasmaas's doctorate dissertation in computer science is entitled "Monitoring Sleep with Force Senor Measurement" and can be viewed here.