Artificial Intelligence in Sleep Medicine: Opportunities and Challenges

With SLEEP 2024 set to begin in June in Houston, TX, many health websites are advancing the hype. The 38th annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS) will run from June 1-5, 2024. Expect to see a trove of new research presented at the meeting.

One area gaining huge interest is that of Artificial Intelligence. In a recent article, the AASM’s Artificial Intelligence in Sleep Medicine Committee outlines the significant potential of artificial intelligence to make groundbreaking contributions to sleep medicine.

The article titled “Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of using AI-enabled technology in sleep medicine: a commentary” was published in a recent edition of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.

Health Care Nears 20% of GDP
Health care expenses now account for nearly 20% of the U.S. GDP, with significant increases in administrative costs, stagnant labor productivity, and growing dissatisfaction among patients and physicians over the past quarter-century. In response, policymakers have introduced reforms that have paradoxically heightened the administrative load for patients and physicians without substantially improving cost efficiency or quality. Artificial intelligence (AI), often a subject of intense debate, could be likened to a “new “dawn for health care delivery. It holds the potential to empower patients and physicians by reducing administrative burdens and boosting labor productivity.

In the article, the authors examined advancements in AI within sleep medicine and spotlighted its potential in revolutionizing care in three critical areas: clinical applications, lifestyle management, and population health.

• Clinical applications: In the medical field, AI-driven technologies provide extensive data analysis, sophisticated pattern recognition, and automated diagnostic processes, particularly for addressing persistent issues such as sleep-related breathing disorders. Initially modest, the deployment of AI in clinical settings has the potential to enhance efficiency and patient access significantly.
• Lifestyle management: Utilizing AI in lifestyle management through consumer sleep technology presents significant advantages. Devices such as fitness wristbands, smartphone apps, and smart rings help improve sleep health by monitoring, evaluating, and enhancing sleep patterns. The integration of wearable sleep technology and data-informed lifestyle suggestions enables patients to actively participate in their own health management.
• Population health: AI technology introduces a novel approach to public health in the context of sleep management. It holds the promising ability to integrate environmental, behavioral, and physiological data, facilitating informed interventions at the population level and addressing current gaps in healthcare.

The article also raises concerns about incorporating AI into sleep medicine, highlighting issues such as data privacy, security, accuracy, and the risk of perpetuating existing biases. These challenges necessitate the development of robust validation and standardization protocols to ensure AI technologies are implemented responsibly and ethically in healthcare. It is essential to validate AI tools against diverse datasets to confirm their dependability and accuracy across different patient groups.

Sources:

Medical Express

JCSM on Pubmed