Monitoring of human physiological functions during the daily night sleep

Abstract

The basic somnological methodology, which is extensively used in the present time, focuses only on clinical practice. However, this approach is not appropriate for monitoring of physiological functions during natural sleep under home conditions. Our work was designed to develop a new information-and-equipment device for the reliable study of human physiological functions during sleep in the real everyday life. The information complex is a new portable microprocessor device and original software, which is constructed on the basis of PC and provides a control of vital physiological functions during sleep in the real everyday life. We developed a new methodology for the objective comprehensive study of sleep under real day-to-day conditions. This approach allows us to identify the phase structure of sleep and to control cardiovascular functions and breathing on the basis of a cross-correlation analysis of the heart rate and respiratory rate (that reflects the degree of emotional strain). The information system for control of sleep under living conditions is composed from interrelated units, which perform the following functions: registration, identification, and analysis of the phase structure of sleep; wake-up of a subject in a certain time during the pre-determined optimal phase of sleep (as regards the psychophysiological state of this subject); and interruption of a long-lasting hazardous phase of sleep. Due to a complex analysis of physiological functions, the information system provides monitoring of sleep under real living conditions and interruption of hazardous phases of sleep that can be accompanied by serious cardiovascular disorders (i.e., leading to cerebral stroke, myocardial infarction, and sudden death).