Collecting sleep quality information via a medical device

Abstract

At least one of a medical device, such as an implantable medical device, a monitor, and a computing device determines values for one or more metrics that indicate the quality of a patient's sleep. Sleep efficiency, sleep latency, and time spent in deeper sleep states are example sleep quality metrics for which values may be determined. In some embodiments, determined sleep quality metric values are associated with a current therapy parameter set. In some embodiments, a programming device presents sleep quality information to a user based on determined sleep quality metric values values. A clinician, for example, may use the sleep quality information presented by the programming device to evaluate the effectiveness of therapy delivered to the patient by the medical device, to adjust the therapy delivered by the medical device, or to prescribe a therapy not delivered by the medical device in order to improve the quality of the patient's sleep.

1 . A method comprising: 
 monitoring at least one physiological parameter of a patient;    determining a value of a metric that is indicative of sleep quality based on the at least one physiological parameter;    identifying a current therapy parameter used by a medical device to deliver a therapy to a patient; and    associating the sleep quality metric value with the current therapy parameter set.    
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein monitoring at least one physiological parameter comprises monitoring at least one of electrocardiogram morphology, subcutaneous temperature, muscular tone, electrical activity of a brain of the patient or eye motion.  
   
   
       3 . A medical system comprising: 
 a medical device that delivers a therapy to a patient;    a monitor that monitors at least one physiological parameter of the patient based on a signal received from at least one sensor; and    a processor that determines a value of a metric that is indicative of sleep quality based on the at least one physiological parameter, identifies a current therapy parameter set used by the medical device to deliver the therapy to the patient, and associates the sleep quality metric value with the current therapy parameter set.    
   
   
       4 . The medical system of  claim 3 , wherein the monitor monitors at least one of electrocardiogram morphology, subcutaneous temperature, muscular tone, electrical activity within a brain of the patient or eye motion.  
   
   
       5 . The medical system of  claim 3 , further comprising a computing device to present sleep quality information to a user based on the sleep quality metric values determined by the processor.  
   
   
       6 . The medical system of  claim 5 , wherein the user comprises a clinician, and the computing device comprises a clinician programmer that presents at least one of a trend diagram, a histogram or a pie chart to the clinician based on the sleep quality metric values.  
   
   
       7 . The medical system of  claim 5 , wherein the user comprises a patient, and the computing device comprises a patient programmer that presents a message related to sleep quality to the patient based on the sleep quality metric values.  
   
   
       8 . The medical system of  claim 3 , 
 wherein the processor determines a plurality of values of the sleep quality metric over time, and associates each of the determined values of the sleep quality metric with a current therapy parameter set, and    wherein, for each of a plurality of therapy parameter sets, the processor determines a representative value of the sleep quality metric based on the values of the sleep quality metric associated with the therapy parameter set,    the system further comprising a computing device that presents a list of the therapy parameter sets and the associated representative values to a user, and orders the list of therapy parameter sets according to the associated representative values.    
   
   
       9 . The medical system of  claim 3 , 
 wherein the processor determines a plurality of values over time for each of a plurality of metrics that are indicative of sleep quality, and associates each of the determined values with a current therapy parameter set, and    wherein, for each of the plurality of therapy parameter sets, the processor determines a representative value for each of the sleep quality metrics based on the values of that sleep quality metric associated with the therapy parameter set,    the system further comprising a computing device that presents a list of the therapy parameter sets and the associated representative values to a user, and orders the list of therapy parameter sets according to the representative values of a user-selected one of the sleep quality metrics.    
   
   
       10 . The medical system of  claim 3 , wherein the processor comprises a processor of at least one of the medical device and the monitor.  
   
   
       11 . The medical system of  claim 3 , further comprising a computing device, wherein the processor comprises a processor of the computing device.  
   
   
       12 . The medical system of  claim 3 , wherein the medical device comprises the monitor.  
   
   
       13 . A method comprising: 
 monitoring a plurality of signals, each of the signals generated by a sensor as a function of at least one physiological parameter of a patient;    identifying when the patient is attempting to sleep;    identifying when the patient is asleep based on at least one of the signals; and    determining a value of a metric that is indicative of sleep quality based on the identifications of when the patient is attempting to sleep and asleep,    wherein identifying when the patient is asleep comprises identifying when the patient is asleep based on at least one of electrocardiogram morphology, subcutaneous temperature, muscular tone, electrical activity within a brain of the patient or eye motion.    
   
   
       14 . A medical system comprising: 
 a plurality of sensors, each of the sensors generating a signal as a function of at least one physiological parameter of a patient; and    a processor that monitors the signals generated by the sensors, identifies when the patient is attempting to sleep, identifies when the patient is asleep based on at least one of the signals, and determines a value of a metric that is indicative of sleep quality based on the identifications of when the patient is attempting to sleep and asleep, wherein the processor identifies when the patient is asleep based on at least one of electrocardiogram morphology, subcutaneous temperature, muscular tone, electrical activity within a brain of the patient or eye motion.    
   
   
       15 . A medical system comprising: 
 a plurality of sensors, each of the sensors generating a signal as a function of at least one physiological parameter of a patient;    a computing device that monitors the signals generated by the sensors, identifies when the patient is attempting to sleep, identifies when the patient is asleep based on at least one of the signals, and determines a value of a metric that is indicative of sleep quality based on the identifications of when the patient is attempting to sleep and asleep.    
   
   
       16 . The medical system of  claim 15 , wherein the computing device comprises a programming device.  
   
   
       17 . The medical system of  claim 15 , wherein the computing device receives the signals generated by the sensors via a network.  
   
   
       18 . The medical system of  claim 17 , wherein the computing device comprises a server.