Current and future methodology for monitoring sleep
Sleep is much more than simply decreased consciousness, and the distinctions among the stages of non-REM and REM sleep are of significance for the polysomnographer because of their implications for physiologic events. The rules for staging sleep are essentially unchanged since their original description in 1968. This article describes this system for sleep staging, some of its weaknesses, and potential new approaches.
Feinsilver
SH
Director, Division of Pulmonary Medicine, North Shore University Hospital, Manhasset; and Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, SUNY at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York.