This might be the solution to an uncomfortable night at a sleep clinic.

AI technology developed by researchers Professor Guy Brown and Dr. Ning Ma from the Speech and Hearing Research Group at the University of Sheffield, UK, can now monitor snoring levels and detect sleep disorders, including obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). (University of Sheffield)

Their technology has been incorporated into an iOS app, SoundSleep which monitors people’s sleep on their smartphones, placed bedside.

SleepSound

The SleepSound app monitors, even records, the sounds from a sleeper and analyzes their snoring. In the morning, the app offers up a complete report that they can use to pinpoint the causes and factors around their sleep and snore problems.

Sleep disorders are increasingly common now, and in the UK, around 2.5 million people suffer from sleep disorders, including OSA.

Sleep disorders can cause high blood pressure, depression, mood swings, exhaustion, lack of concentration, and risk of stroke.

People usually ignore sleep problems unless one or other of the above issues manifests itself. The usual investigation for sleep disorders is conducted at a sleep clinic where the patient would be connected to a host of monitoring apparatus.

Most people resist the idea of spending a night at a sleep clinic. However, the researchers at the University of Sheffield took their sleep AI model a step further so it could be used to monitor many of the same sleep functions at a patient’s home.

This additional facility will soon be incorporated within SleepSound.

Dr. Ning Ma, Research Fellow in the University of Sheffield’s Department of Computer Science, said: “Getting a good night’s sleep is a problem that affects lots of people across the country. What we are trying to do with our research is use the latest, state-of-the-art artificial intelligence to help people get to the bottom of what is preventing them from getting a good night’s sleep as easily as possible.”

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