Purpose: A literature review is presented that aims to summarize and compare current methods to evaluate sleep.Methods: Current sleep assessment methods have been classified according to different criteria; e.g., objective (polysomnography, actigraphy…) vs. subjective (sleep questionnaires, diaries…), contact vs. contactless devices, and need for medical assistance vs. self-assessment. A comparison of validation studies is carried out for each method, identifying their sensitivity and specificity reported in the literature. Finally, the state of the market has also been reviewed with respect to customers’ opinions about current sleep apps.Results: A taxonomy that classifies the sleep detection methods. A description of each method that includes the tendencies of their underlying technologies analyzed in accordance with the literature. A comparison in terms of precision of existing validation studies and reports.Discussion: In order of accuracy, sleep detection methods may be arranged as follows:Questionnaire < Sleep diary < Contactless devices < Contact devices < PolysomnographyA literature review suggests that current subjective methods present a sensitivity between 73% and 97.7%, while their specificity ranges in the interval 50%–96%. Objective methods such as actigraphy present a sensibility higher than 90%. However, their specificity is low compared to their sensitivity, being one of the limitations of such technology. Moreover, there are other factors, such as the patient’s perception of her or his sleep, that can be provided only by subjective methods. Therefore, sleep detection methods should be combined to produce a synergy between objective and subjective methods. The review of the market indicates the most valued sleep apps, but it also identifies problems and gaps, e.g., many hardware devices have not been validated and (especially software apps) should be studied before their clinical use.
This article surveys previous work on program slicing-based techniques. For each technique, we describe its features, its main applications, and a common example of slicing using such a technique. After discussing each technique separately, all of them are compared in order to clarify and establish the relations between them. This comparison gives rise to a classification of techniques which can help to guide future research directions in this field.
27 November 2019 in Expert Review of Medical Devices
Introduction: Sleep assessment devices are essential for the detection, diagnosis, and monitoring of sleep disorders. This paper provides a state-of-the-art review and comparison of sleep assessment devices and a market analysis. Areas covered: Hardware devices are classified into contact and contactless devices. For each group, the underlying technologies are presented, paying special attention to their limitations. A systematic literature review has been carried out by comparing the most important validation studies of sleep tracking devices in terms of sensitivity and specificity. A market analysis has also been carried out in order to list the most used, best-selling, and most highly-valued devices. Software apps have also been compared with regards to the market. Expert opinion: Thanks to technological advances, the reliability and accuracy of sensors has been significantly increased in recent years. According to validation studies, some actigraphs present a sensibility higher than 90%. However, the market analysis reveals that many hardware devices have not been validated, and especially software devices should be studied before their clinical use.