Automatic scoring of apnea and hypopnea events using blood oxygen saturation signals

Roman E. Rolón, Iván E. Gareis, L. D. Larrateguy, Leandro E. Di Persia, Ruben D. Spies, Hugo Leonardo Rufiner

Abstract: Highlights•Only blood oxygen saturation signals are used to tackle the problem of individually differentiating between normal breathing, apnea and hypopnea events.•A method for structured dictionary learning is used for dealing with the underlying problem.•A multiclass discriminant measure, which is capable of highlighting important information of the dictionary atoms, is used.•Significant improvements in obstructive sleep apnea screening are achieved by individually recognizing apnea and hypopnea events.•The results encourage developing further intelligent technologies for portable screening devices, which can offer a new option for the proper detection of pathological patients.