FAQ

What is BreathFlow?

BreathFlow is a sensitive measure of breathing stability based on analysis of acoustic patterns trained on sleep lab data.

Periods with unstable breathing patterns are classified as having either “Reduced” BreathFlow, resembling partial reductions in airflow, or “Low” BreathFlow, resembling greater airflow reductions.

The headline percentage is a weighted average with “Low” episodes having a stronger impact than “Reduced” episodes. Scores lower than 90% are labelled “Unstable” and scores higher than 90% are labelled “Stable”.

This wellness score is designed to help you track nightly variations in your breathing and to measure the impact of lifestyle changes, external factors and interventions.

SnoreLab metrics are based on acoustic patterns and may be affected by ambient noise and bed partners.

BreathFlow is not a medical device, nor is it intended to replace professional medical advice and/or diagnosis.

What is the Breathing Disturbance Index (BDI)?

Breathing disturbances are temporary interruptions of breathing patterns during sleep.

SnoreLab’s Breathing Disturbance Index (BDI) uses acoustic analysis to estimate the number of breathing disturbances you experience each hour. This metric has been calibrated using reference data from sleep labs and thousands of nights of Apple Watch data contributed by SnoreLab research participants.

Scores higher than 12 events per hour are labelled as “Elevated”.

This wellness score is designed to help you track nightly variations in your breathing and to measure the impact of lifestyle changes, external factors and interventions.

SnoreLab metrics are based on acoustic patterns and may be affected by ambient noise and bed partners.

Breathing Disturbance Index statistics are for informational purposes only and are not intended to diagnose or treat sleep apnea or any other medical condition.

How does BreathFlow identify breathing stability during sleep?

BreathFlow analyzes sound patterns to detect indicators of irregular breathing. It has been designed to capture subtle reductions in breathing as well as complete gaps.

As an audio model, it cannot capture these events to a clinical standard. The model’s predictions are highly correlated with clinical measurements of sleep disordered breathing in lab and home settings.

How does BreathFlow handle two people in the same bed?

Handling two bed sharers is a challenge for any audio-based sleep model. In practice, if both people are snoring the model may be confused and should not be relied upon. To ensure that a reading is from the targeted user, it is recommended to sleep alone in the bed.

Does BreathFlow rely solely on smartphone hardware, or does it integrate with other devices?

BreathFlow uses the phone’s microphone to give a nightly measure of breathing stability. Continuously analysing audio patterns throughout the night, BreathFlow assigns a label to each 30 second segment: “Normal”, “Reduced”, or “Low” to capture subtle changes in breathing stability. An aggregate score is given for the night with values greater than 90% labeled as “Stable” and lower values as “Unstable”.

SnoreLab continues to be compatible with Apple Health, but this data does not contribute to the BreathFlow score.

BreathFlow can be used as a standalone feature in the SnoreLab app or it can be used as a complementary feature to the Apple Watch Breathing Disturbance Index.

Can BreathFlow detect conditions like sleep apnea, and if so, how does it differentiate between severity levels?

BreathFlow is not intended as a replacement for clinical diagnosis of sleep disorders, but as a complementary and convenient wellness metric.

In validation data, BreathFlow is highly correlated with clinical measures of sleep apnea but does not diagnose sleep apnea. A diagnosis requires consulting a doctor and undergoing a sleep test.

How does BreathFlow's accuracy compare to traditional sleep studies or wearable devices?

BreathFlow has been trained on nearly 400 nights of gold standard sleep lab data and further validated using Apple Watch data from 1000s of nights in a home environment.

Additionally, BreathFlow gives a more detailed and nuanced picture of the night compared to wearables. It creates a visual picture of when in the night events were suspected to have occurred and graded in two levels of severity - reduced and low BreathFlow.

The most unique aspect of BreathFlow compared to wearable devices is that it saves detailed audio recordings throughout the night so you can hear their breathing disturbances and share them with a medical professional. Further, no additional hardware is required as it works from a phone beside the bed, making it considerably more affordable and convenient than wearables.

Please note, BreathFlow is not a medical device and cannot be used for diagnosis, whereas traditional sleep studies can diagnose sleep apnea.

How is data secured, and what measures are in place to protect privacy?

The model runs fully on the device without any interactions with an external server. We do not routinely store or collect detailed data from our users unless they opt into our research programme. Read our full privacy policy here.

Is BreathFlow free, or does it require a separate purchase or subscription?

BreathFlow is a premium feature that requires a subscription. SnoreLab has a 7-day free trial available for new users. Learn more about SnoreLab Premium here.

Has BreathFlow undergone clinical validation, and can I see the results?

BreathFlow has been developed using clinical data from sleep labs and a publication will be made in due course in collaboration with world-renowned sleep researcher Professor Penzel.

A key focus on development has been to ensure robust performance in a home environment.

Breathing

BreathFlow™ – Our new measure of sleep breathing stability

See and hear your breathing

BreathFlow

Breathing Disturbances

Breathing Rate

How BreathFlow works

A granular picture of your breathing stability

Detailed audio recordings and visualizations of your sleep

Trained on gold-standard sleep lab data

Breathing Disturbance Index (BDI)

SnoreLab’s BDI estimates the number of breathing disturbances you experience each hour

How to get started with BreathFlow?

Already have SnoreLab?

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