Abstract
Purpose :
To investigate the ability of a smart contact lens to detect rapid eye movement (REM) sleep stages in humans.
Methods :
Patients with primary open angle glaucoma underwent simultaneous recording with SENSIMED Triggerfish® (TF; Sensimed, Lausanne, Switzerland) and a polysomnography monitor (PSG) during two 24-hour in-hospital stays at weekly interval. Patients were randomly assigned to supine flat and 30° head-up sleeping positions. The TF contact lens sensor (CLS) is powered by an electrical current through a peri-orbital antenna. A good alignment between the peri-orbital antenna and the antenna contained in the CLS is required to ensure measurement transmission. Eye movements induce a misalignment of the 2 antennas that is automatically adjusted by variating the current required to power the CLS.
The first and last sleep cycles were identified from PSG reports and sleep stages were evaluated. Current variations were extracted from TF files and compared to sleep stages, specifically REM timings.
Results :
12 patients (mean age 68±9 years, 83% female) participated in the study. Results are reported for 11 patients and 17 recording sessions, as REM stages were not detectable on all PSG reports. In the first and last sleep cycles, regardless of sleep position, REM stages were associated with high variation of CLS current in 82% of recordings (14 out of 17 recordings). REM stages were very short (1 and 3 min, respectively) in 2 recordings (12%), probably occurring outside the CLS measurement period. Due to technical issues, the CLS signal was not appropriately measured in the last recording, not allowing to evaluate a possible association with sleep stage.
Conclusions :
TF is capable of detecting physiological events such as REM stages during sleep. By capturing the CLS current variations, eye activity can be assessed. Several studies have reported on the potential association between REM stages, sleep apnea and oxygen desaturation, which are relevant to glaucomatous disease1,2. Therefore, in patients with glaucoma, characterization of REM stages during a TF recording session might be relevant for the management of glaucoma.
References
1. Walsh JT, Montplaisir J. Familial glaucoma with sleep apnoea: a new syndrome? Thorax 1982;37(11):845-9.
2. Hashim SP et al. Prevalence of glaucoma in patients with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea: ocular morbidity and outcomes in a 3 year follow-up study. Eye (Lond) 2014;28(11):1304-9.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.