A collaboration between researchers from University of Houston and University of Texas Health Science Center has developed a new method to perform sleep studies that minimized the amount of equipment that has to be tethered to the patient. The biggest impediment is the tube placed over the nose that monitors airflow. The researchers created an infrared camera monitoring system that can observe breathing passively and quantify the airflow without any tubes.
Here’s an NSF interview with the principal scientists of the study explaining their work:
Press release: Computer Science Provides a More Sound Way to Test for Sleep Apnea …
Abstract in Sleep: Thermal Infrared Imaging: A Novel Method to Monitor Airflow During Polysomnography …