Self‐applied somnography: technical feasibility of electroencephalography and electro‐oculography signal characteristics in sleep staging of suspected sleep‐disordered adults

Summary Sleep recordings are increasingly being conducted in patients’ homes where patients apply the sensors themselves according to instructions. However, certain sensor types such as cup electrodes used in conventional polysomnography are unfeasible for self‐application. To overcome this, self‐applied forehead montages with electroencephalography and electro‐oculography sensors have been developed. We evaluated the technical feasibility of a self‐applied electrode set from Nox Medical (Reykjavik, Iceland) through home sleep recordings of healthy and suspected sleep‐disordered adults (n = 174) in the context of sleep staging. Subjects slept with a double setup of conventional type II polysomnography sensors and self‐applied forehead sensors. We found that the self‐applied electroencephalography and electro‐oculography electrodes had acceptable impedance levels but were more prone to losing proper skin–electrode contact than the conventional cup electrodes. Moreover, the forehead electroencephalography signals recorded using the self‐applied electrodes expressed lower amplitudes (difference 25.3%–43.9%, p