Therapeutic methods for sleep respiratory issues via a positional therapy device that monitors a users's head position
Systems, devices, and methods for facilitating diagnosis of sleep respiratory issues and/or delivering therapy for such issues are provided. According to one embodiment, a positional therapy device may be integrated with a PAP mask system to provide an effective and more sleep conducive method for positional sleep therapy for PAP system users. In some examples, positional therapy may be implemented through notifications delivered by a speaker associated with the positional therapy device to reduce symptoms of positional sleep respiratory issues. A positional sensor within the positional therapy device facilitates recognition regarding when a user (sleeper) is out of their programmed sleep position. The sleeper can then be notified via the speaker to adjust themselves to a more optimal sleep position for reduced snoring and/or sleep obstruction. The positional therapy device may alternatively or additionally capture user sleep data to facilitate diagnosis of a sleep respiratory issue by a medical professional.
1 . A method comprising:
based on input by a user of a positive airway pressure (PAP) mask system, establishing a positional sleep therapy alert range with reference to a pointing vector of positional sensor of a positional therapy device by (i) calibrating the pointing vector for use as a relative frame of reference for subsequent determination of a head orientation of the user in a two-dimensional (2D) space or a three-dimensional (3D) space and (ii) calculating the positional sleep therapy alert range based on the calibrated pointing vector and an offset vector, wherein the positional therapy device is integrated with the PAP mask system;
during a sleep session of the user, wearing the PAP mask system, determining the head orientation of the user is within the positional sleep therapy alert range based on a state of the positional sensor; and
after said determining, prompting the user to alter their sleep position.
2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising logging a plurality of observations regarding a current head orientation of the user and whether the current head orientation is within or outside of the positional sleep therapy alert range.
3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising additionally logging one or more of a breathing rate of the user, a heart rate of the user, a snoring state of the user, existence or non-existence of a breathing interruption, and an oxygen saturation of blood of the user by performing repeated measurements over time of the positional sensor and one or more other sensors associated with the positional therapy device.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said determining involves reading the state of the positional sensor after detecting movement of the user.
5 . The method of claim 3 , further comprising repeating said prompting in accordance with an alert profile.
6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the alert profile comprises a user-configurable alert profile and specifies one or more of: a volume of an audible notification, a rate of repetition of the audible notification with a set time duration in between, a time delay of a start of the audible notification, a number of repetitions of the audible notification, a pattern of the audible notification, a duration of the audible notification, and a type of sound associated with the audible notification.
7 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
observing a subsequent head orientation of the user is outside of the positional sleep therapy alert range; and
after said observing, discontinuing said repeating.
8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the offset vector is configurable by the user via an application associated with the positional therapy device.
9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the state of the positional sensor comprises a current pointing vector of the positional sensor and wherein said determining includes:
determining the current pointing vector; and
determining whether the current pointing vector is in a favorable or unfavorable orientation with respect to the calibrated pointing vector based on the positional sleep therapy alert range.
10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
transmitting the state of the positional sensor from the positional therapy device to a smartphone or external processing device in communication with the positional therapy device via wireless communication; and
wherein said determining is performed by an application running on the smartphone or the external processing device.
11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said determining is performed on the positional therapy device.
12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the positional sensor comprises one or more of an accelerometer, a gyroscope, an inertial measurement unit, and a magnetometer.
13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the positional sleep therapy alert range represents:
one or more undesired orientations of a head of the user in the 2D space or the 3D space; or
one or more desired orientations of the head of the user in the 2D space or the 3D space.
14 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising logging time-series data during the sleep session, wherein a given record of the time-series data for a particular time interval includes:
a timestamp;
information regarding the head orientation of the user determined during the particular time interval;
a breathing rate of the user;
an indication of whether a breathing interruption was detected during the particular time interval;
an indication of whether snoring by the user was detected during the particular time interval; and
an indication of whether the head orientation of the user determined during the particular time interval was within or outside of the positional sleep therapy alert range.
15 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising exporting a report or raw data in a data interchange format or a medical format based on the time-series data.
16 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising presenting to the user via an application associated with the positional therapy device a summary of the sleep session based on the time-series data.
17 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
during the sleep session, detecting the user is snoring based on vibration detected by the positional sensor; and
after said detecting, prompting the user to alter their sleep position.
18 . A positional therapy device comprising:
a positional sensor including one or more of an accelerometer, a gyroscope, an inertial measurement unit, and a magnetometer;
a means for alerting a user of a positive airway pressure (PAP) mask system with which the positional therapy device is integrated;
one or more processors; and
instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the positional therapy device to:
based on input by a user of the PAP mask system, establish a positional sleep therapy alert zone with reference to a pointing vector of the positional sensor by (i) calibrating the pointing vector for use as a relative frame of reference for subsequent determination of a head orientation of the user in a two-dimensional (2D) space or a three-dimensional (3D) space and (ii) calculating the positional sleep therapy alert zone based on the calibrated pointing vector and an offset vector;
during a sleep session in which the user is wearing the PAP mask system, determine the head orientation of the user is within the positional sleep therapy alert zone based on a state of the positional sensor; and
after determining the sleep position of the user is within the positional sleep therapy alert zone, prompt the user to alter their sleep position by providing an alert to the user via the means for alerting.
19 . The positional therapy device of claim 18 , wherein the head orientation of the user is determined by reading the state of the positional sensor after detecting movement of the user.
20 . The positional therapy device of claim 18 , wherein the instructions further cause the positional therapy device to repeat the alert in accordance with an alert profile.
21 . The positional therapy device of claim 20 , wherein the alert profile comprises a user-configurable alert profile and specifies one or more of: a volume of an audible notification, a rate of repetition of the audible notification with a set time duration in between, a time delay of a start of the audible notification, a dynamically calculated and manually set number of repetitions of the audible notification, a pattern of the audible notification, a duration of the audible notification, and a type of sound associated with the audible notification.
22 . The positional therapy device of claim 20 , wherein the instructions further cause the positional therapy device to:
observe a subsequent sleep position of the user is outside of the positional sleep therapy alert zone; and
after observing the subsequent sleep position of the user is outside of the positional sleep therapy alert zone, discontinue repetition of the alert.
23 . The positional therapy device of claim 18 , wherein the positional therapy device is integrated with straps of the PAP mask system permanently or semi-permanently.
24 . The positional therapy device of claim 18 , wherein the positional therapy device is integrated with a mask of the PAP mask system permanently or semi-permanently.
25 . The positional therapy device of claim 18 , wherein the instructions further cause the positional therapy device to log time-series data during the sleep session, wherein a given record of the time-series data for a particular time interval includes:
a timestamp;
information regarding a current head orientation of the user determined during the particular time interval;
a breathing rate of the user;
an indication of whether a breathing interruption was detected during the particular time interval;
an indication of whether snoring by the user was detected during the particular time interval; and
an indication of whether the current head orientation of the user is within or outside of the positional sleep therapy alert zone.
26 . The positional therapy device of claim 18 , further comprising one or more of:
an oximeter;
a set of one or more Electroencephalograph (EEG) electrodes/pads; and
a set of one or more Electrooculography (EOG) electrodes/pads.
27 . The positional therapy device of claim 18 , wherein the instructions further cause the positional therapy device to:
during the sleep session, determine the user is snoring based on vibrations detected by the positional sensor; and
after determining the user is snoring, prompt the user to alter their sleep position by providing an alert to the user via the means for alerting.
28 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the given record of the time-series data for the particular time interval further includes:
information regarding Electroencephalograph (EEG) data including one or more of EEG signals, voltage measurements, electrode channels, and electrical waveforms; and
information regarding Electrooculography (EOG) data including one or more of EOG signals, voltage measurements, electrode channels, and electrical waveforms.
29 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said prompting comprises providing an audible notification to the user, and wherein the audible notification proactively mitigates occurrences of sleep respiratory issues by the user.
30 . The method of claim 29 , wherein the audible notification comprises a sub-arousal audible notification performed during stage N1 or N2 of sleep.
31 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising analyzing time-series data collected for the sleep session and based thereon make a recommendation to the user to adjust one or more of the positional sleep therapy alert range, the volume of the audible notification, the rate of repetition of the audible notification, the number of repetitions of the audible notification, the duration of the audible notification, and the type of sound associated with the audible notification.
32 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the positional therapy device has integrated therein a wireless transmitter though which the positional therapy device communicates with a mobile application associated with the positional therapy device, and wherein the method further comprises, programmatically disabling the wireless transmitter prior to the sleep session.
33 . The positional therapy device of claim 25 , wherein the given record of the time-series data for the particular time interval further includes:
information regarding Electroencephalograph (EEG) data including one or more of EEG signals, voltage measurements, electrode channels, and electrical waveforms; and
information regarding Electrooculography (EOG) data including one or more of EOG signals, voltage measurements, electrode channels, and electrical waveforms.
34 . The positional therapy device of claim 18 , wherein said providing an alert to the user comprises providing an audible notification to the user, and wherein the audible notification proactively mitigates occurrences of sleep respiratory issues by the user.
35 . The positional therapy device of claim 34 , wherein the audible notification comprises a sub-arousal audible notification performed during stage N1 or N2 of sleep.
36 . The positional therapy device of claim 21 , wherein the instructions further cause further cause the positional therapy device to analyze time-series data collected for the sleep session and based thereon make a recommendation to the user to adjust one or more of the positional sleep therapy alert zone, the volume of the audible notification, the rate of repetition of the audible notification, the number of repetitions of the audible notification, the duration of the audible notification, and the type of sound associated with the audible notification.
37 . The positional therapy device of claim 18 , further comprising a wireless transmitter though which the positional therapy device communicates with a mobile application associated with the positional therapy device, and wherein the instructions further cause the positional therapy device to programmatically disable the wireless transmitter prior to the sleep session.