title: Polysomnography Challenges.
abstract: Polysomnography provided a means to objectively study sleep. Initial challenges were technical; the next challenge was overcoming communication difficulties and lack of standardization. The new specialty, sleep medicine, created a huge demand for laboratory polysomnography. By the early 2000s, home sleep testing and treatment devices made inroads into clinical sleep practice. The economic consequence was shrinking demand for clinical laboratory polysomnography. Therefore, polysomnography must now find new directions, approaches, and purpose. Engineering challenges remain, and the "new" polysomnography needs to revisit some of the original questions about sleep, including what constitutes optimal sleep quantity, timing, and quality.
authors.affiliation: Division of Public Mental Health and Population Sciences, School of Medicine, Stanford University, 3430 Bayshore Road, Palo Alto, CA 94303, USA; Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, 1 Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA. Electronic address: max.hirshkowitz@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Max
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hirshkowitz
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D017286:Polysomnography / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*
keywords: Home sleep testing; Polysomnography; Sleep evaluation; Sleep medicine; Sleep studies