Automatic prediction of obstructive sleep apnea event using deep learning algorithm based on ECG and thoracic movement signals.

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a sleeping disorder that can cause multiple complications.

Aims/objective: Our aim is to build an automatic deep learning model for OSA event detection using combined signals from the electrocardiogram (ECG) and thoracic movement signals.

Materials and methods: We retrospectively obtained 420 cases of PSG data and extracted the signals of ECG, as well as the thoracic movement signal. A deep learning algorithm named ResNeSt34 was used to construct the model using ECG with or without thoracic movement signal. The model performance was assessed by parameters such as accuracy, precision, recall, F1-score, receiver operating characteristic (ROC), and area under the ROC curve (AUC).

Results: The model using combined signals of ECG and thoracic movement signal performed much better than the model using ECG alone. The former had accuracy, precision, recall, F1-score, and AUC values of 89.0%, 88.8%, 89.0%, 88.2%, and 92.9%, respectively, while the latter had values of 84.1%, 83.1%, 84.1%, 83.3%, and 82.8%, respectively.

Conclusions and significance: The automatic OSA event detection model using combined signals of ECG and thoracic movement signal with the ResNeSt34 algorithm is reliable and can be used for OSA screening.