Welcome to the GNU-Sleep Web site. Our goal is to provide you with useful information about this fledgling Sleep Technology repository of open source projects. The name is a take-off of The GNU Operating System which is laudable in its effort to provide a seperate operating system, GNU, for free. Plus also organize programmers and distribution of this free software derived and composed for use in this free system. We are NOT affiliated with them whatsoever, but do hold to similar ideals.

Philosophy of the GNU Project

GNU-Sleep was started because the sleep testing field cannot wait for proprietary system vendors to come to market with products of their own design and intent and  only be made available to those using their proprietary systems. We desire a hand in developing, creating and expanding the systems, algorithms and software we use. We feel we need to lend a hand to help bring the Sleep testing field out of the dark ages and into the open.

The fuel that will kindle this engine will be EDF (European Data Format) For a complete listing of the standard please visit here. SOme available downloadable sleep recordings can be found on the EDF site as well as here on the Physiobank website. Take the Physiotour. ANd then visit the PhsyioToolkit.

A recent extension to EDF, and the first open source sleep related offering is XDF. (Extensible Data Format.) Information regarding XDF can be found here and their recent Letter to the Editor in Sleep.

Ivanov, VG; Ayappa, I; Norman, RG; Rapoport, DM.SleepXML - Extensible markup language (XML) application for polysomnographic (PSG) data storage and exchange.Sleep.2004;27 359
 

There is a Webiste www.SLEEPXML.org where hopefully will be a place to discuss Sleep XML.

A Plain-English Explanation of XML and Web Services
 

I have the source code and executables of software I designed and helped write back in the late 80’s and early 90’s to create 2 second Z-ratios from CNS Matrix Sleep System recordings. This can be used to learn how to perform Z-Page or backwards majority Z-Page. As well as perform our artifact rejection routine. Z-ratio is an open source algorithm to analyze EEG in 1 second increments to determine sleep/wake.

Z-ratio is the ONLY simple, transparent, intuitive
reduction of EEG into a single Unitary per second
quantified sleep/wake metric.

Take a look for yourself at the Presentation recently given at the Founding Congress of the World Association of Sleep Medicine in Berlin, Germany.

Zomnography
An Online Metric of Sleep/Wake
Using the Unitary Measure, Z-ratio.

Z-ratio Bibliography

Make sure you check out our links page. If you have software you wish to offer or  links you think are of use to the community or wish to offer your programming services or capabilities, feel free to contact us  If you have comments or questions about anything, or simply need more information, feel free to contact us.

Thanks for visiting and we looking forward to a thriving open source sleep community.

Claude Albertario, RPSGT

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Email: info@gnu-sleep.org