Sleep Staging with Frontopolar EEG Derivation

Patients suffering from sleep disorders, especially respiratory disorders, are often investigated by all-night ambulatory home recordings instead of extended polysomnographic in-laboratory studies. Reasons for this are lower costs and long waiting lists to sleep laboratories. Special ambulatory recording equipment has been developed for these home recordings (1). In some instances sleep electroencephalography (EEG) is not recorded. However, even one EEG electrode could be of substantial aid in differentiating non-REM (NREM) from REM sleep, estimating the quality and depth of NREM sleep and measuring in a reliable way the amount of sleep during the night. Unfortunately, the EEG electrode might become detached during the night in home recordings. Often a skilled technician is required for attaching the most commonly used central EEG-electrode (C3 or C4). Because of Sleep Staging with Frontopolar EEG Derivation