The A to Zzzzzzs of sleep technology

Deborah Allard Herald News Staff Reporter @debsallard

It used to be that people walked, breathed, and slept without counting steps or beats, or minutes in REM and deep sleep.

That’s so old-school.

Today, smart watches can answer all sorts of burning questions in real time. They can tell heart rate, steps logged that day and time in fat burning mode. They can analyze sleep each night. And soon, some will act as glucose meters.

Shedding light on sleep pattern gives the wearer insight into how much sleep they got in hours and minutes, how many times they woke in the night, and how much light, deep and REM sleep was logged.

But, smart watches don’t offer data on quality sleep.

Sleep medicine doctors are skeptical of the new wearable devices and hope for more research on the topic, and improved technology.

“Sleep medicine is very technology driven, and as the technology improves, there will be multiple new ways for patients to monitor and improve their sleep,” said Dr. Robert W. Conroy, neurologist and sleep medicine specialist, and director of the Saint Anne’s Hospital Center for Sleep Medicine.

Conroy said doctors can get some information from the current wearables, though they are a weaker form of “actigraphy” technology that monitors rest and activity cycles, that specialists have been using for years.

Conroy said sleep information from wearables like the Fitbit haven’t been scientifically studied, as have traditional sleep technologies conducted in a lab setting.

“There have only been two studies of consumer-level devices and they don’t correlate well with stages of sleep, amount of wakefulness, and sleep onset latency — the time it takes one to get to sleep,” Conroy said.

The devices however can give the wearer a “rough indication” of sleep for patients who tend to sleep well anyway, but not as much for low-efficiency sleepers.

“Sensitivity for wakefulness was low, and there was as an overestimation of total sleep time and underestimation of wake after sleep,” Conroy said.

The Herald News asked Facebook users for their opinion on sleep analytics used on the popular Fitbit. Wendy Correira said it made her realize how poorly she actually slept.

Christie Fernandes said she was more “conscious of how much you don’t sleep” and said it allowed her to compare her nights of sleep and make better choices.

Tim Perkins said he preferred the “fitness functionality of the Apple Watch, personally.” He said it had “better integration” and was “more robust. Apple also offers a sleep tracker you can purchase (They purchased a company called Bedford) which rests under your sheets (aka its ambient). Offers incredible sleep analysis.”

Of course, wearables, while helpful in the sleep arena, cannot diagnose or treat conditions like sleep apnea, snoring, restless leg syndrome, and other sleep disorders.

“They do help the wearer compare one night to the other and do give some information about total sleep, but not really quality,” Conroy said.

Some forms of technology are actually to blame for robbing one of their quality sleep.

“Technology is affecting society’s sleep woes with bright light from smart phones, video games and large screen TVs, causing our circadian rhythm to move forward when used at night, especially in teens,” Conroy said.

And, don’t forget those late nights spent binge watching TV programs, or entire seasons.

“This is a recent change in technology in the last 10 years,” Conroy said. “Therefore, as you see technology can potentially harm and improve our sleep.”

The future of wearable

technology

As technology plays more and more of a role in the health of ordinary consumers, there are some smart gadgets to look forward to in the future, and some that are available right now.

Fitbit and Dexcom are looking to partner and develop continuous glucose monitoring for people with diabetes using the Fitbit Ionic. No finger pricks needed.

Other wearables are already acting as ECG monitors for patients with heart problems, like the Quardio Core model. It’s worn on the chest and can be tracked on a smartphone.

The Muse personal headband meditation device works with the brain to nudge the wearer into a peaceful state. The Emotiv EEG device tracks brain activity, just like smart watches track steps.

Omron makes wireless blood pressure monitors to be worn on the wrist, like a watch, or as a cuff on the upper arm.

All of this information may help people become more informed about their health.

But, can wearables detect the common cold? Or predict when a person might have a heart attack or a stroke?

No. At least not yet.

Email Deborah Allard at

dallard@heraldnews.com

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