Dreem (device)

Dreem is a sleep device that monitors, analyzes, and claims to enhance quality of sleep. It's a miniaturized and autonomous headband that monitors the quality of sleep and then uses sound to help fall asleep faster, get deeper sleep, and wake up at the optimal time through smart alarm.
Dreem is a headband that collects, reports data and also claims to enhance the user's behavior in real-time according to the data collected. The sensors include dry EEG electrodes, accelerometer and pulse oximeter. The five EEG electrodes include O1 and O2 electrodes in the occipital part of the head and Fpz, F7, and F8 on the forehead. These electrodes are meant to pick up EEG frequencies common in sleep, such as sleep spindles, slow waves, and k-complexes. This data is then used to attempt to determine if the wearer is in light sleep, deep sleep, or REM.
History.
Rythm, manufacturer of Dreem, was launched in 2014. $11 million were raised from private investors and public grants the same year to pursue the manufacturing of sleep-improving neurotechnology device. As of June 2017, a total of $22 million were raised by Rythm. The version 2 of the Dreem headband was released in June 2017 on pre order after practicing tests with a first beta version on 500 users at the end of 2016. The company claims that more than 50 engineers worked on the second version, collaborating with famous neuroscientists such as Emmanuel Mignot, Christoph Koch, David Eagleman. The device was designed by Yves Béhar.
Sleep quality.
The dry polymer EEG electrodes monitor the brain activity, and the bone-conducting audio devices transmit sound directly to the inner ear. The company claims that the device will improve the deep sleep by up to 32 percent although this has not been validated through clinical studies and the device is not a medical device.
The headband comes with sensors in contact with the forehead and around the ears that keep track of a wearer's sleep stage by measuring brain activity. When the sensors detect a sleeper has entered into deep sleep, the headband turns on a frequency of sound called "pink noise" at a precise time that the company claims enhances the quality of deep sleep. The pink noise also helps the deep sleeper better transition to the dreamy REM (rapid eye movement) state that comes afterwards. The deep sleep stimulation feature is not available on the US version of the Dreem 2.
Research.
In 2019 a validation study was conducted by DREEM in order to compare the DREEM headband to conventional polysomnography (PSG). Thirty-one subjects completed an overnight sleep study using PSG and the DREEM headband. The signal acquisition and performance of DREEM algorithms were assessed.
Results for signal acquisition in the alpha, beta, theta, and delta bands showed substantial agreement between conventional PSG and DREEM and the results for heart rate and breathing measurements were considered adequate. Sleep staging for PSG was scored by five professional sleep technologists and DREEM's sleep staging was done by its automatic algorithms. Staging was compared between scorers and then to the DREEM algorithms. Analysis showed that the DREEM scoring was comparable to the PSG sleep scoring. Both PSG and DREEM scoring most often misclassified wake and had the best classification score for REM. DREEM claims that the results of this study show that DREEM can be reliably used as an alternative to a traditional sleep study.