Sleep Technology

This article is part three in a four-part series on the ever-changing face of sleep technology. In this article, we’ll address the following questions: What does the future of sleep medicine look like? How will evolving technology change the way sleep studies are done? And, just as importantly, how will economic pressures affect sleep medicine?

This is the second in a series of articles dealing with the changing landscape of sleep technology. In this article, we’ll take a brief look at our present understanding of sleep as well as review some of the technology we use in our sleep centers.

A Brief History of Polysomnography The earliest recorded theory of sleep is from c450 BC. At that time, a Greek physician by the name of Almaeon described sleep as a loss of consciousness as blood recedes from the surface of the body¹. A few other theories came out regarding sleep. However, all theories encompassed a similar theme: Sleep was seen as a passive state in which the brain was simply “turned off.”