Augsburg, October 6, 2026

Today at 𝗕𝗠𝗧 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 (60th Annual Conference of the German Society for Biomedical Engineering (VDE|DGBMT) hosted by the University of Augsburg, we had the pleasure of bringing together researchers from different institutions and disciplines for our Focus Session Challenges and opportunities to enhance diagnosis of comorbid sleep disorders via AI-powered wearable devices

The session addressed an important question for the future of sleep medicine: 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘄𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗜 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗿𝗼𝗯𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀?
The contributions covered a broad spectrum of this challenge: digital sleep medicine and telemonitoring, the accuracy of wearables and digital sleep diaries compared with polysomnography, AI-powered wearable devices for comorbid sleep disorders, phenotyping of obstructive sleep apnea, and the opportunities and limitations of foundation models in sleep research.

What I particularly appreciated was the combination of technological innovation with a critical view on 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗱𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝘃𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗺𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮, 𝗱𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. These aspects will be essential if AI-based sleep technologies are to move from research prototypes to tools that can genuinely support patients and healthcare professionals.

Many thanks to Christoph Schöbel, Konstantin Popov, Giulia Maria Mattia
𝗙𝗲𝗶𝗳𝗮𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴, Dagmar Krefting, and Tugce Canbaz-Gümüssu and everyone who contributed to the discussions and exchange.

It was a great opportunity to connect perspectives from 𝗯𝗶𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗲 and to continue building bridges between methodological research and clinical practice. Thanks also to the 𝗕𝗠𝗧 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗿𝘀 and the 𝗗𝗚𝗕𝗠𝗧 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 and my Co-Chair Giulia Mattia for providing the platform for this Focus Session.