Sleep Cycle and Carnegie Mellon To Explore Sleep Data To Detect Outbreaks

Sleep Cycle, the world’s leading AI sleep technology company, today announced the kickoff of a five-year research collaboration with The Delphi Group at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). This collaboration focuses on understanding how privacy-preserved data and sleep-based signals, such as nighttime cough patterns, may complement and enhance traditional respiratory disease surveillance systems and early detection of both seasonal and emerging disease outbreaks.

Under the collaboration, Sleep Cycle will provide Delphi with deidentified research data related to coughing and breathing to support epidemiological modeling and forecasting research. The study will analyze trends derived from anonymized, differentially private data from Sleep Cycle’s Cough Radar, a public visualization tool that shows aggregated trends in nightly coughing intensity across regions. Researchers will explore whether these signals can provide earlier visibility into respiratory disease activity, including viruses such as influenza, RSV and SARS-CoV-2. Relevant research insights will be announced continuously during the research program.

This study marks the first time that CMU’s Delphi Group — a leading epidemiologic research group that is coordinated by Professor Roni Rosenfeld — will systematically assess sleep app data as a potential input for national epidemiological monitoring and research in conjunction with other health indicators available on its Delphi Epidata platform.

“This research will evaluate the utility of Sleep Cycle-derived cough and breathing signals for epidemiological surveillance applications,” said Professor Roni Rosenfeld, principal investigator of the Delphi Group at Carnegie Mellon University. “Our goal is to rigorously assess where these indicators can add value alongside existing public health data streams. Bolstered monitoring could lead to earlier detection of seasonal and emerging respiratory disease outbreaks, allowing health officials to react faster and safeguard the public health."

Advancing Sleep Cycle’s Mission: From Reactive to Predictive Health
Sleep Cycle’s data science and respiratory-signal research, including its proprietary audio-based cough detection technology, have demonstrated that nighttime cough behavior can correlate with real-world viral activity. This collaboration provides an opportunity to evaluate those findings within a leading epidemiology research institute in the United States and marks another important step forward in Sleep Cycle’s evolution from a consumer sleep app to a contributor in population-level health research, helping surface patterns in nocturnal breathing and nighttime physiology that may inform public health decision-making.

“Sleep and breathing-related signals offer a consistent, passive window into population-level trends,” said Dr. Mikael Kågebäck, Head of Science and CTO at Sleep Cycle. “We’re pleased to support Delphi’s long-term research efforts by contributing privacy-preserved indicators that may help advance epidemiological modeling and forecasting with the support of Sleep Cycle sleep data library, including 3 billion nights across 180 countries.”

This collaboration supports both parties’ commitment to advancing scientific understanding and responsible use of digital health data for public benefit.

By contributing anonymized trends from the world’s largest sleep library, Sleep Cycle advances its mission to use the power of sleep, breath and recovery to support healthier individuals and more informed societies.

For more information, please contact:

Carnegie Mellon University PR
aaupperlee@cmu.edu

Elisabeth Hedman | CFO & Head of IR
elisabeth.hedman@sleepcycle.com | +46 76 282 8958

About Sleep Cycle
Sleep Cycle is dedicated to making healthy sleep accessible to everyone. Our app helps users to build hero habits, identify potential sleep issues, and gain valuable insights into their sleep patterns. Leveraging patented sound technology and over 3 billion analyzed sleep sessions, Sleep Cycle provides unparalleled accuracy and personalized guidance. As part of its broader partnership program, Sleep Cycle offers company partnerships including in-app promotions, tailored SDK solutions, and an extensive data library, enabling businesses to expand their offerings with sleep solutions and insights. Sleep Cycle is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm under the ticker SLEEP, with its headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden.

About The Delphi Group
The mission of the Delphi Group is to develop the theory and practice of epidemic detection, tracking and forecasting, and their use in decision making, both public and private. Founded in 2012 at Carnegie Mellon University, it has since expanded to include researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of British Columbia. Perennial winners of CDC’s “predict the flu” challenge since 2014, the group has been designated National Center of Excellence for Flu Forecasting by CDC’s Influenza Division, and National Center for Innovation by CDC’s Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics. The Delphi Epidata repository of real-time, geographically-detailed epidemic indicators contains more than 750 indicators totaling over 5 billion records, with 3 million records added daily.

About Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon is a private, internationally-ranked research university with acclaimed programs spanning the sciences, engineering, technology, business, public policy, humanities and the arts. Our diverse community of scholars, researchers, creators and innovators is driven to make real-world impacts that benefit people across the globe. With an unconventional, interdisciplinary and entrepreneurial approach, we do the work that matters.