polysomnogram
Meaning of polysomnogram: A polysomnogram, commonly called a sleep study, records brain activity, breathing, heart rhythm, and muscle activity overnight to help diagnose sleep disorders.
Definition of polysomnogram
A polysomnogram is a recording of several body functions taken simultaneously during sleep, most often performed overnight in a sleep laboratory. It typically includes measurements of brain wave activity, eye movement, breathing rate and effort, blood oxygen level, heart rhythm, and the electrical activity of muscles, capturing a detailed picture of what happens throughout a night of sleep.
By recording these measurements together, a polysomnogram can identify patterns associated with specific sleep disorders, including pauses in breathing during sleep, abnormal limb movements, and disruptions in the normal stages of sleep, which are distinguished from one another partly by characteristic patterns in brain wave activity.
Commonly known as a sleep study, a polysomnogram is generally reviewed as a whole, since the way different measurements relate to one another, such as a drop in oxygen level occurring alongside a pause in breathing, is often more informative than any single measurement considered on its own.
Also known as
Used in a sentence
A polysomnogram was ordered to evaluate the patient's reported pauses in breathing during sleep.
Good to know
A polysomnogram is interpreted by examining how its different recorded measurements relate to one another over the course of the night, rather than by reviewing any single measurement in isolation.
Word origin
Where “polysomnogram” comes from
Formed from Greek polys, meaning many, Latin somnus, meaning sleep, and the Greek suffix -gram, from gramma, meaning something recorded or written.