Benchmarking Accelerometer and CNN-Based Vision Systems for Sleep Posture Classification in Healthcare Applications

Sleep position recognition plays a crucial role in diagnosing and managing various health conditions, such as sleep apnea, pressure ulcers, and musculoskeletal disorders. Accurate monitoring of body posture during sleep can provide valuable insights for clinicians and support the development of inte...

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Main Authors: Minh Long Hoang, Guido Matrella, Dalila Giannetto, Paolo Craparo, Paolo Ciampolini
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-06-01
Series:Sensors
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/25/12/3816
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author Minh Long Hoang
Guido Matrella
Dalila Giannetto
Paolo Craparo
Paolo Ciampolini
author_facet Minh Long Hoang
Guido Matrella
Dalila Giannetto
Paolo Craparo
Paolo Ciampolini
author_sort Minh Long Hoang
collection DOAJ
description Sleep position recognition plays a crucial role in diagnosing and managing various health conditions, such as sleep apnea, pressure ulcers, and musculoskeletal disorders. Accurate monitoring of body posture during sleep can provide valuable insights for clinicians and support the development of intelligent healthcare systems. This research presents a comparative analysis of sleep position recognition using two distinct approaches: image-based deep learning and accelerometer-based classification. There are five classes: prone, supine, right side, left side, and wake up. For the image-based method, the Visual Geometry Group 16 (VGG16) convolutional neural network was fine-tuned with data augmentation strategies including rotation, reflection, scaling, and translation to enhance model generalization. The image-based model achieved an overall accuracy of 93.49%, with perfect precision and recall for “right side” and “wakeup” positions, but slightly lower performance for “left side” and “supine” classes. In contrast, the accelerometer-based method employed a feedforward neural network trained on features extracted from segmented accelerometer data, such as signal sum, standard deviation, maximum, and spike count. This method yielded superior performance, reaching an accuracy exceeding 99.8% across most sleep positions. The “wake up” position was particularly easy to detect due to the absence of body movements such as heartbeat or respiration when the person is no longer in bed. The results demonstrate that while image-based models are effective, accelerometer-based classification offers higher precision and robustness, particularly in real-time and privacy-sensitive scenarios. Further comparisons of the system characteristics, data size, and training time are also carried out to offer crucial insights for selecting the appropriate technology in clinical, in-home, or embedded healthcare monitoring applications.
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spelling doaj-art-3648ba4bb80f4169a00edae66b2e3a0b2025-08-20T03:29:39ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202025-06-012512381610.3390/s25123816Benchmarking Accelerometer and CNN-Based Vision Systems for Sleep Posture Classification in Healthcare ApplicationsMinh Long Hoang0Guido Matrella1Dalila Giannetto2Paolo Craparo3Paolo Ciampolini4Department of Engineering and Architecture, University of Parma, 43124 Parma, ItalyDepartment of Engineering and Architecture, University of Parma, 43124 Parma, ItalyDepartment of Engineering and Architecture, University of Parma, 43124 Parma, ItalyDepartment of Engineering and Architecture, University of Parma, 43124 Parma, ItalyDepartment of Engineering and Architecture, University of Parma, 43124 Parma, ItalySleep position recognition plays a crucial role in diagnosing and managing various health conditions, such as sleep apnea, pressure ulcers, and musculoskeletal disorders. Accurate monitoring of body posture during sleep can provide valuable insights for clinicians and support the development of intelligent healthcare systems. This research presents a comparative analysis of sleep position recognition using two distinct approaches: image-based deep learning and accelerometer-based classification. There are five classes: prone, supine, right side, left side, and wake up. For the image-based method, the Visual Geometry Group 16 (VGG16) convolutional neural network was fine-tuned with data augmentation strategies including rotation, reflection, scaling, and translation to enhance model generalization. The image-based model achieved an overall accuracy of 93.49%, with perfect precision and recall for “right side” and “wakeup” positions, but slightly lower performance for “left side” and “supine” classes. In contrast, the accelerometer-based method employed a feedforward neural network trained on features extracted from segmented accelerometer data, such as signal sum, standard deviation, maximum, and spike count. This method yielded superior performance, reaching an accuracy exceeding 99.8% across most sleep positions. The “wake up” position was particularly easy to detect due to the absence of body movements such as heartbeat or respiration when the person is no longer in bed. The results demonstrate that while image-based models are effective, accelerometer-based classification offers higher precision and robustness, particularly in real-time and privacy-sensitive scenarios. Further comparisons of the system characteristics, data size, and training time are also carried out to offer crucial insights for selecting the appropriate technology in clinical, in-home, or embedded healthcare monitoring applications.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/25/12/3816accelerometerdeep neural networkvision-based systemsleep posture classificationCNN
spellingShingle Minh Long Hoang
Guido Matrella
Dalila Giannetto
Paolo Craparo
Paolo Ciampolini
Benchmarking Accelerometer and CNN-Based Vision Systems for Sleep Posture Classification in Healthcare Applications
Sensors
accelerometer
deep neural network
vision-based system
sleep posture classification
CNN
title Benchmarking Accelerometer and CNN-Based Vision Systems for Sleep Posture Classification in Healthcare Applications
title_full Benchmarking Accelerometer and CNN-Based Vision Systems for Sleep Posture Classification in Healthcare Applications
title_fullStr Benchmarking Accelerometer and CNN-Based Vision Systems for Sleep Posture Classification in Healthcare Applications
title_full_unstemmed Benchmarking Accelerometer and CNN-Based Vision Systems for Sleep Posture Classification in Healthcare Applications
title_short Benchmarking Accelerometer and CNN-Based Vision Systems for Sleep Posture Classification in Healthcare Applications
title_sort benchmarking accelerometer and cnn based vision systems for sleep posture classification in healthcare applications
topic accelerometer
deep neural network
vision-based system
sleep posture classification
CNN
url https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/25/12/3816
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