Virtual Medical Centre

Snoring sounds may hold key to a good night's sleep

Led by Dr Udantha Abeyratne from the School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, the team has developed a non-invasive way of diagnosing obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA).

Caused by the collapse of the upper air passage during sleep, OSA is Australia's most common sleep disorder, affecting approximately 800,000 people.

Common symptoms include snoring, waking suddenly and daytime sleepiness and, if left untreated, it can lead to stroke, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

"OSA has snoring as the earliest symptom; almost all patients snore," Dr Abeyratne said.

"We have developed several techniques to diagnose OSA using snoring sounds alone.

"Sounds are acquired through non-contact recording devices, and features are extracted.

"At present we are capable of screening OSA with greater than 90 percent sensitivity and specificity.

"These results are unmatched in the world in terms of the non-invasiveness and performance, and unequivocally illustrate the viability of a snore-based, non-contact OSA screening device."

OSA is currently diagnosed using polysomnography (PSG), which requires a full-night laboratory stay in a specifically equipped sleep suite, connected to more than 15 channels of measurements.