Hearables: Automatic Sleep Scoring from Single-Channel Ear-EEG in Older Adults

Abstract

Sleep disorders are a prevalent problem among older adults, yet obtaining an accurate and reliable assessment of sleep quality can be challenging. Traditional polysomnography (PSG) is the gold standard for sleep staging, but is obtrusive, expensive, and requires expert assistance. To this end, we propose a minimally invasive single-channel single ear-EEG automatic sleep staging method for older adults. The method employs features from the frequency, time, and structural complexity domains, which provide a robust classification of sleep stages from a standardised viscoelastic earpiece. Our method is verified on a dataset of older adults and achieves a kappa value of at least 0.61, indicating substantial agreement. This paves the way for a non-invasive, cost-effective, and portable alternative to traditional PSG for sleep staging.