😴 Polysomnography & Smart Rings 💍: A Sneak Peek for the Impatient
I’ve received plenty of messages asking about the results from the sleep lab and how the various smart rings performed. Unfortunately, I still don’t have the official results, but I do have some basic data to share for those interested. Here's a quick overview!
I must warn you, this article has been put together in a bit of a rush! ⚡️
For context, here’s the Instagram post that sparked all the interest:
Let’s keep it brief:
- What is polysomnography?
- What data do I currently have?
- How are the smart rings performing so far?
- What’s the preliminary takeaway?
🥼 Polysomnography
Polysomnography, or a polysomnographic study, is a sleep examination conducted in a sleep lab. Electrodes and sensors are used to monitor sleep-critical functions throughout the recording period (typically from 10 PM to 6 AM).
I spent one night in the sleep lab. Let’s just say it wasn’t exactly a royal slumber. Hardly surprising, given that I was wrapped up in sensors from head to almost toe:
But the quality of my sleep wasn’t really the point here.
📊 What Data Do I Have
One of the results of a polysomnographic study is the total time spent in different sleep stages, such as REM and N1–N3. We won’t dive into lengthy explanations of what each stage does; instead, I’ll borrow Oura’s clever marketing here:
Here’s what my test results look like:
Unfortunately, the AWAKE phase is missing (for now). That’s a big downside because I consider the 4-stage sleep breakdown (awake, REM, light, deep) provided by smart rings to be pure guesswork 👈.
Hopefully, the awake phase will be included later. What I primarily expect from a smart ring (or any sleep tracker worn on a limb) is to accurately tell me when I was asleep and when I was awake—in other words, to at least nail a 2-stage breakdown into sleep & awake.
💍 So, how did the smart rings perform?
Let’s dive straight into the total times [in minutes] for each sleep stage:
- REM
- N1+N2 = Light
- N3 = Deep
