1 research outputs found
Dynamics of Snoring Sounds and Its Connection with Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Snoring is extremely common in the general population and when irregular may
indicate the presence of obstructive sleep apnea. We analyze the overnight
sequence of wave packets --- the snore sound --- recorded during full
polysomnography in patients referred to the sleep laboratory due to suspected
obstructive sleep apnea. We hypothesize that irregular snore, with duration in
the range between 10 and 100 seconds, correlates with respiratory obstructive
events. We find that the number of irregular snores --- easily accessible, and
quantified by what we call the snore time interval index (STII) --- is in good
agreement with the well-known apnea-hypopnea index, which expresses the
severity of obstructive sleep apnea and is extracted only from polysomnography.
In addition, the Hurst analysis of the snore sound itself, which calculates the
fluctuations in the signal as a function of time interval, is used to build a
classifier that is able to distinguish between patients with no or mild apnea
and patients with moderate or severe apnea