[ad_1]
If you tie a new postage stamp size to your forehead before sleeping at night, the device can help you know if you suffer from sleep apnea – the disorder that can make you stop breathing from Repeatedly during your sleep, you get tired during the day and increasing your risk of other conditions like diabetes and depression. If you already know that you have trouble, the device can give you information on how to improve your sleep.
The wearable, called SleepTuner, was designed as an alternative to a night spent in a sleep lab plugged into wires and collects more information than a simple basic application measuring your movement.
"What we saw in the middle was the opportunity to create a user-friendly, clinically validated assessment product that would go through the FDA and undergo formal clinical studies. His level of precision and insight would be proven … same kinds of ideas as a sleep lab, "says Mike Kisch, CEO and co-founder of Beddr, the start-up that makes the new device.
The founders, drawn from the design of medical devices and other consumer products, began their research by addressing sleep experts approved by the board of directors. "We said, look, what are the main sets of information on which you actually rely to make a formal diagnosis?" Said Kisch. "One thing they always came back to was oxygen. What is the oxygen level of the person when they sleep? Do they have trouble breathing when they sleep?
The device uses an infrared LED optical sensor, which projects a red light onto the skin and measures its reflection to determine the oxygen level and heart rate in the blood. At the same time, an accelerometer measures a person's movement and sleep positions. If a person has sleep apnea, she is more likely to stop breathing while lying on her back. Through the app, the device can show the correlations between the sleep positions of a person. person and the quality of his sleep, and suggest ways to improve.
When a user answers other questions about his lifestyle in the application, he can also see how the changes made improve his sleep. Alcohol consumption, for example, can worsen sleep and increase the chances of someone to stop breathing, although many people tend to believe that drinking helps them sleep better.
The designers tested dozens of prototypes. They landed on a device that could stick to a person's forehead because the skin is not particularly sensitive, but it's a good place to accurately measure oxygen levels. "As a general rule, about two or three minutes after applying the product, people completely forget that it is there," says Kisch. The notebook weighs about as much as a nickel.
In a clinical study, measurable portable oxygen levels as well as hospital grade devices have been. A second study compared the device with a blood test, the current gold standard for oxygen measurement.
According to Kisch, it was essential for designers that the team could prove to customers that the device was working accurately. "If they do not believe it, they do not accept the fact that they have to make changes that have a positive impact." Doctors also need to trust the device to be able to use a device in order to to make an official diagnosis. . The device is currently "FDA registered", that is, it is listed with the FDA and has not been approved yet. However, by the beginning of next year, the company hopes to be allowed to make an official diagnosis of sleep at home.
"We will be a unique partner with whom a consumer can work. It will then be evaluated, diagnosed and prescribed. We will then be able to use the data as well as the doctor's knowledge to adapt it to the appropriate treatment. which has the highest probability of success, "he says.
[ad_2]
Source link
