New Study Shows Potential of Sleep Number 360® Smart Bed for Capturing Reliable Sleep Data from Home

Sleep Number Corporation announced publication of its new study in the journal Sensors that shows that SleepIQ^® technology, found in the Sleep Number 360^® smart bed, demonstrated strong correlations in measuring sleep data compared to traditional laboratory PSG, the current gold standard of measuring sleep.

PSG, however, is impractical to use longitudinally and places a high burden on the user. The results of this study suggest the 360 smart bed may provide a reliable, longitudinal measurement of sleep quality, while enabling access to sleep data from the comfort of one’s home and from large populations for longer, continuous periods of time than what is feasible with PSG.

To date, Sleep Number has collected over 14 billion hours of sleep data gathered from over 1.8 billion real-world sleep sessions. Sleep Number data also show sleepers using 360 smart bed technology achieve 170 hours more restful sleep per year – an average of 28 minutes a night.*

“This is an important step in validating the 360 smart bed for use in sleep research and is foundational to our purpose of improving the health and wellbeing of society through higher quality sleep,” said Annie Bloomquist, Chief Innovation Officer, Sleep Number. “The scientific recognition of the comparative accuracy of our SleepIQ technology data means it could one day be used to help healthcare practitioners have a real-world, longitudinal view of their patients’ sleep health over time – something they’ve never had access to before. The aggregated learnings from our 360 smart beds will advance sleep science with data; we believe it will provide a better understanding of sleep’s impact on holistic health, improving patient outcomes and eventually predicting health trends.”

SleepIQ technology is embedded into every 360 smart bed. Its dynamic algorithm gathers billions of longitudinal biosignal and sleep data points from millions of real-world sleepers. The smart bed’s sensors unobtrusively measure average heart rate and breathing rate, motion, temperature and more. Using an embedded ballistocardiograph (BCG), signal processing and machine learning, the smart bed provides real-time measurement of several sleep metrics, including duration and quality. The sensors help to create a responsive and adjustable microenvironment for each individual and can effortlessly respond to a sleeper to keep them comfortable.

This study performed three analyses in evaluating sleep metrics measured by SleepIQ technology against PSG: the ability to measure all-night heart rate and breathing rate; the sensitivity of the smart bed for detecting sleep and specificity to detect wake stages; and the measurement of all-night summary metrics including sleep efficiency, sleep onset latency, total sleep time and wake after sleep onset. The study included 45 participants aged 22-64 who slept one night in a laboratory setting and underwent simultaneous PSG and SleepIQ recordings.

While PSG has traditionally been considered the gold standard for measuring sleep, it has its limitations. Because it is generally collected in a lab, information gathered by PSG may not reliably translate to real-life conditions. Although its use in longitudinally monitoring sleep in real-life conditions is possible, it is expensive, time consuming, discontinuous, and imposes a high burden on the sleeper. The 360 smart beds stand out not only because the embedded SleepIQ technology provides accurate, ecologically valid data collection, but because they are effortless to use – with no need to wear or charge anything – making them the first smart bed that requires no user action to monitor biosignals and automatically adjusts to improve sleep. The SleepIQ data gathered from the 360 smart beds also enables the collection of sleep metrics in large populations for longer periods of time than is feasible with PSG.

“We’re excited by the potential of this research and our technology to develop new products, services and impactful partnerships,” said Faisal Mushtaq, Chief Technology Officer, Sleep Number. “We know the 360 smart bed delivers highly accurate monitoring and personalized insights, and we are confident the proven accuracy of SleepIQ technology is a stepping stone for greater health implications. Smart beds may eventually be able to identify health risks and may soon enable proactive health care – all from home.”

Results of the study showed measurements of both epoch-by-epoch and mean heart and breathing rates were strongly correlated between SleepIQ technology and PSG. In addition, SleepIQ technology was able to differentiate sleep and wake states with reasonable accuracy and precision, with a higher sensitivity in detecting sleep and a lower specificity in detecting wake states. For all-night sleep metrics, SleepIQ technology showed reasonable accuracy in measuring sleep onset latency, wake after sleep onset, sleep efficiency and total sleep time. Importantly, the accuracy of these measurements was impacted by the amount of time participants were awake in bed, with results showing greater accuracy for participants who spent less time awake. Future studies are needed to better characterize the accuracy of the smart bed, with particular regard to longitudinal repeatability and reliability, using data collected over multiple nights for each participant. Further validation is also required to assess the smart bed as a potential screening tool for sleep disorders.

“Performance Evaluation of a Smart Bed Technology against Polysomnography” is now available here: https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/22/7/2605. To learn more about our innovations in sleep health, science and research, visit: www.sleepnumber.com/science.

*Based on average SleepIQ^® data from 8/1/21 – 2/28/22 of sleepers who engaged with their Sleep Number^® setting, SleepIQ^® data and FlexFit™ smart adjustable base.

About Sleep Number

Individuality is the foundation of Sleep Number. Our purpose driven company is comprised of over 5,500 passionate team members who are dedicated to our mission of improving lives by individualizing sleep experiences. We have improved over 14 million lives and are positively impacting society’s wellbeing through higher quality sleep.

Our award-winning 360^® smart beds are informed by science. They learn from over one billion sleep sessions of highly-accurate, real world sleep data – the culmination of 14 billion hours’ worth – to automatically adjust to each sleeper and provide effortless comfort and proven quality sleep. Our 360 smart beds deliver individualized sleep health reports and insights, including a daily SleepIQ^® score, and are helping to advance meaningful sleep health solutions by applying sleep science and research.

For life-changing sleep, visit SleepNumber.com.