AI Identifies Previously Unrecognized Health Insights in Routine Sleep Studies
Search
August 3, 2026/News Releases
AI Identifies Previously Unrecognized Health Insights in Routine Sleep Studies
Interdisciplinary research team develops foundation model that identifies
patient groups with markedly different long-term health risks
Media Contact
A novel AI model can use information collected during routine sleep studies to identify patients’ long-term health risks, according to a new study published in Nature Communications. Developed by a multidisciplinary research team that included Cleveland Clinic, the model uncovered hidden sleep patterns linked to risks including heart disease, cognitive decline and death.The findings also suggest that routine medical tests may contain substantially more physiologic information than current clinical practice extracts from them. In this case, AI identified meaningful signals in standard overnight sleep study data that are not captured by conventional summary measures alone.
The research revealed clinically meaningful patient subtypes with sharply different long-term health risks. Patients in the highest-risk group had twice the mortality risk over the next five years compared to those in the lowest-risk group, a distinction that was not captured by the standard clinical measure used to assess sleep apnea severity, the apnea-hypopnea index
Each year, an estimated 1 to 4 million polysomnograms, or in-lab sleep studies, are performed in the United States, typically to evaluate sleep apnea. While these studies collect rich data on each patient’s brains, lungs, muscles and heart, clinicians historically have focused on a small subset of that information to grade sleep apnea severity.
“For decades we have distilled an overnight sleep study into a handful of summary measures,” said Reena Mehra, M.D., professor of medicine at the University of Washington and the study’s senior clinical author. “AI gives us the opportunity to move beyond those summaries and learn from the full richness of sleep physiology.”
The model was developed by a collaborative team of sleep physicians, AI researchers, data scientists and neuroscientists brought together through the Discovery Accelerator, a 10-year joint research partnership between Cleveland Clinic and IBM aimed at advancing the pace of discovery in life sciences through AI and quantum computing
Using data from the Cleveland Clinic Sleep Signals, Testing, and Reports Linked to Patient Traits (STARLIT) registry, the researchers grouped patients into five risk categories. The model also predicted outcomes well for men and women, while the apnea hypopnea index has historically performed better in men. The findings were independently confirmed in a nationwide patient cohort. “Modern AI lets us recover much more of the information contained in a night’s worth of sleep physiology, revealing clinically meaningful patient groups with very different long-term health risks,” said Jeffrey Rogers, Ph.D., the corresponding author and professor adjunct, neurosurgery, Yale School of Medicine. “These findings demonstrate that routine medical tests can contain substantially more physiologic information than current clinical practice extracts from them.”
The model could also help researchers better understand how sleep impacts health outcomes. By looking beyond traditional measures, the approach uses AI to detect latent physiologic features invisible to the human eye and extract prognostic biomarkers that help stratify risk for cardiovascular and neurologic disease, and survival, opening the door to earlier and more personalized care
“Sleep is foundational to health and wellness,” said Matheus Lima Diniz Araujo, Ph.D., a sleep researcher at Cleveland Clinic. “Nearly 70 million Americans live with chronic disorders of sleep and wakefulness, affecting daily functioning and overall health. This discovery offers a more personalized approach to sleep medicine, by potentially expanding the value of routine sleep testing and reinforcing the key role sleep plays in chronic disease.”
Carl Saab, Ph.D., a professor of biomedical engineering and Chief Scientist of Cleveland Clinic’s Discovery Accelerator, said, “The next step is to validate these findings in diverse populations and expand collaborations among medical and technical experts, industry partners and professional society stakeholders.”“Sleep is increasingly recognized as a critical component of health, yet the physiological information captured during sleep remains largely underused,” said Erhan Bilal, Ph.D., lead author of the study. “Because everyone sleeps, sleep studies offer a remarkable window into human health that extends far beyond the diagnosis of sleep disorders. Our work shows how foundation models can begin to unlock the richness of these complex signals. And this is only the beginning.”
The research team included Erhan Bilal, Ph.D.; Matheus Lima Diniz Araujo, Ph.D.; Kristen Beck, Ph.D.; Catherine Heinzinger, D.O.; Samer Ghosn, B.S.; Nancy Foldvary-Schaefer, D.O.; Carl Saab, Ph.D.; Jeffrey Rogers, Ph.D.; and Reena Mehra, M.D
About Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. Founded in 1921 by four renowned physicians with a vision of providing outstanding patient care based upon the principles of cooperation, compassion and innovation, Cleveland Clinic has pioneered many medical breakthroughs, including coronary artery bypass surgery and the first face transplant in the United States. Cleveland Clinic is consistently recognized in the U.S. and throughout the world for its expertise and care. Among Cleveland Clinic’s 83,000 employees worldwide are more than 6,600 salaried physicians and researchers, and 21,900 registered nurses and advanced practice providers, representing 140 medical specialties and subspecialties. Cleveland Clinic is a 6,725-bed health system that includes a 173-acre main campus near downtown Cleveland, 23 hospitals, 300 outpatient facilities, including locations in northeast Ohio; Florida; Las Vegas, Nevada; Toronto, Canada; Abu Dhabi, UAE; and London, England. In 2025, there were 15.9 million outpatient encounters, 343,000 hospital admissions and observations, and 336,000 surgeries and procedures throughout Cleveland Clinic’s health system. Visit us at clevelandclinic.org. Follow us at x.com/CleClinicNews. News and resources are available at newsroom.clevelandclinic.org.
Editor’s Note:Cleveland Clinic News Service is available to provide broadcast-quality interviews and B-roll upon request
Latest from the Newsroom
Cleveland Clinic Breaks Ground on Avon Campus Expansion
https://newsroom.clevelandclinic.org/2026/07/30/cleveland-clinic-breaks-ground-on-avon-campus-expansion
Siemens Healthineers and Cleveland Clinic Launch 10-year Strategic Alliance to Enhance Care Through Clinical Innovation and Advanced Imaging
https://newsroom.clevelandclinic.org/2026/07/30/siemens-healthineers-and-cleveland-clinic-launch-10-year-strategic-alliance-to-enhance-care-through-clinical-innovation-and-advanced-imaging
Cleveland WNBA Names Cleveland Clinic as Third Founding Partner and Official Hospital and Sports Medicine Provider
https://newsroom.clevelandclinic.org/2026/07/29/cleveland-wnba-names-cleveland-clinic-as-third-founding-partner-and-official-hospital-and-sports-medicine-provider
Cleveland Clinic Researchers Find Link Between Gut Bacteria Byproduct and Irregular Heart Rhythm
https://newsroom.clevelandclinic.org/2026/07/24/cleveland-clinic-researchers-find-link-between-gut-bacteria-byproduct-and-irregular-heart-rhythm
Cleveland Clinic and National Basketball Players Association Partner to Advance Athlete Performance and Innovation
https://newsroom.clevelandclinic.org/2026/07/23/cleveland-clinic-and-national-basketball-players-association-partner-to-advance-athlete-performance-and-innovation
Haslam Family Makes $25 Million Investment to Support Cleveland Clinic’s Continued Growth and Impact
https://newsroom.clevelandclinic.org/2026/07/21/haslam-family-makes-25-million-investment-to-support-cleveland-clinics-continued-growth-and-impact
New Global Report Outlines Strategies to Improve Hematologic Care for Women
https://newsroom.clevelandclinic.org/2026/07/13/new-global-report-outlines-strategies-to-improve-hematologic-care-for-women
Cleveland Clinic Expanding Saturday Surgery and Procedure Offerings
https://newsroom.clevelandclinic.org/2026/07/07/cleveland-clinic-expanding-saturday-surgery-and-procedure-offerings
Rendered: Mon Aug 03 2026 09:39:24 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
