Sleep data processing

REM Sleep Behavior Disorder

REM Sleep disorder

The SleepRT™ software offers automatic analyses for PLM detection and REM sleep behavior disorder.

As manual scoring of phasic and tonic EMG activity during REM is a time consuming and complicated task, we have developed an automatic detection algorithm for phasic and tonic EMG activity during REM.

This algorithm was created in cooperation with the neurological sleep center in Innsbruck, who have validated the method and published their results.

Key Features:
  • User-defined selection of the EMG channels to be used for the analysis
  • Automatic detection of phasic and tonic EMG activity in REM
  • Manual correction of results is possible
  • Automatic RBD summary in PSG report

Predefined muscle locations in SleepRT™ software

Detection criteria for phasic and tonic EMG activity

SleepRT™ example of the automatic detection of phasic EMG activity during REM sleep for a recording with 14 EMG channels. Each REM epoch is divided into 3 second epochs and evaluated for presence of phasic EMG activity

The following detection criteria are used in the automatic SleepRT™ EMG analysis:

  • Phasic EMG activity in REM sleep:
    • Scored in all applied EMG channels in 3 second mini-epochs during REM
    • Defined as any burst of EMG activity lasting between 0.1 and 5.0 seconds with an amplitude exceeding twice the background EMG activity irrespective of its morphology
  • Tonic EMG activity in REM sleep:
    • Scored only in the mental EMG channel by using 30 second epochs
    • Scored when the increased sustained tonic EMG activity is present in more than 50 % of the total epoch duration with an amplitude of at least twice the background EMG muscle tone

RBD summary in the SleepRT™ report

The SleepRT™ report includes an automatic table of the EMG activity during REM.