Barron Associates Receives Grant from National Institutes of Health to Develop Novel Home-based Sleep Monitoring System

Barron Associates, in collaboration with the University of Virginia, is developing the SoundTrak system:  a low-cost sleep monitor for use in individuals’ home environments to noninvasively, ergonomically, and automatically acquire and analyze high-frequency inspiratory sounds pertaining to obstructive sleep-disordered breathing. The SoundTrak system will collect low- and high-frequency sound data via a highly-portable computing base station. Breathing movements will be measured using a wireless thoracic band, enabling inspirations to be detected and the patient’s sleep sounds to be discriminated from other sources. The thoracic band will also collect wireless electrocardiogram (ECG), body posture, activity, and skin temperature data, and relay that information in real time to the SoundTrak base station. The SoundTrak system will include a pulse oximeter to report oxygen saturation levels. The SoundTrak system will provide many advantages over currently available home sleep monitoring technologies.