• Normal Breathing
• Classic Snoring
• Interrupted Breathing Sounds
• An Unknown

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You also need patience -- for downloading the sound files (about 1.5 megabytes).

The sound diagram below shows one minute of normal breathing in a 4-year-old girl.

In all sound diagrams, time runs across the diagram from left to right, in minutes. This diagrams starts at the 52nd minute of the AcuSleep test.

The peaks and valleys show the sound level at every instant. The higher the peak, the louder the sound.

Each peak in this diagram represents a phase of breathing: first an inhale, then an exhale. There is generally a pause between breaths.

All this will be clearer if you listen to the sound.

Here is a sample of classic "sawing wood" snoring:

The red coloring indicates snoring. The diagram does not show the full shape of the breathing, as the sound level is capped at 200 units.

Snoring can come and go during the night. Here again is the 4-year-old girl whose normal breathing was shown earlier:

This girl's large tonsils are the most likely cause of her snoring.

Snoring usually occurs when inhaling. This one-minutes recording shows snoring may also occur when exhaling:

Later, this same subject snored during both the inhale and exhale phases of breathing. Listen carefully for the inhale snoring.

This subject generally does not snore. However, before this particular AcuSleep study, the subject had slept less than 2 of the previous 52 hours. Fatigue or exhaustion can worsen or bring out snoring.

This sample is from the busy physician described on an earlier page. Your eyes and ears will tell you what is happening.

The time difference between the "121.1" and the "121.6" marks is 0.5 minutes, which is 30 seconds.

Try your hand (and ear) at figuring out what happens in this recording snippet.