Computer aided sleep-staging (CAS) in clinical environment

The implementation of computer-aided sleep-staging (CAS) in the department of Psychiatry, Erasmus Hospital (Free University of Brussels) is discussed. Major features include real-time stage estimation, the availability of a full report and hypnogram in the morning, and the evolution of state variables throughout the night (EEG spectral characteristics, eye-movement density, myographic activity, etc.). Human involvement is considerably reduced, allowing the expert to focus on the most interesting parts of the recording as needed and to incorporate his or her interpretation directly into the sleep database. A validation study of the CAS shows an agreement rate of 85% with visual interpretation for normal controls and 75% for subjects presenting various psychiatric disorders. >