Study, 2008
Can a small device measuring skin temperature during sleep predict your menstrual cycle phase?
Yes. A computer method using skin temperature measurements during sleep successfully identified menstrual cycle phases in most cases, correctly identifying phases 92.0% of the time.
What they did
Thirty women wore a small device that recorded skin temperature during sleep for 6 months. Researchers applied a computer algorithm to the temperature data to try to identify menstrual cycle phases.
What they found
The method correctly identified the menstrual cycle phase 159 out of 173 times, achieving 92.0% sensitivity.
What it means for you
Skin temperature patterns during sleep might be used to automatically track menstrual cycle phases. This is a proof-of-concept study showing the method works in the lab, but it needs testing in real-world conditions before it can be recommended for regular use.
30
women studied
6 months
data collection period
92.0%
sensitivity
About the study
- Original title
- HMM-based estimation of menstrual cycle from skin temperature during sleep
- Authors
- Chen W, Kitazawa M, Togawa T
- Journal
- Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Annual International Conference
- Year
- 2008
- Study design
- Study
- Participants
- 30
- What was tested
- Testing a computer method to estimate menstrual cycle phase from skin temperature during sleep
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1109/iembs.2008.4649487