Sleeping Lab: Intelligent Glass windows in medicine

The susceptibility of the circadian system to selective phase shifting by timed light exposure has broad implications for the treatment of sleep-phase and depressive disorders. Light therapies have been devised that can normalize the patterns of delayed sleep phase syndrome (through circadian phase advances) and advanced sleep phase syndrome (through circadian phase delays). Doctors and patients need to become cognizant of the daily intervals when light exposure—and darkness—can facilitate or hamper adjustment. The primary intervals lie at the edges of the “subjective night,” which coincide with the tails of the nocturnal melatonin cycle, but they can be inferred clinically through a Chrono type questionnaire. The lighting schedule may have to be continually adjusted as the subjective night shifts gradually in the desired direction.

The treatment strategy for seasonal and no seasonal depressive disorders is similar. In winter depression, the magnitude of phase advances correlates with the degree of mood improvement, and the optimum timing of light therapy must be specified relative to circadian rather than solar time. Apart from its use as a monotherapy, light therapy in both outpatient and inpatient trials indicates that light therapy accelerates remission of no seasonal depression in conjunction with medication.

A sleep study, also known as a polysomnogram, records patient sleep patterns, brain waves, breathing, and muscle movements. A sleep study is very helpful in diagnosing breathing, neurological, and movement disorders that may occur during sleep. Some of the symptoms that may lead your child’s doctor to order a sleep study are snoring, bedwetting, sleep walking, sleep talking, night terrors, pauses in breathing (sleep apnoea), the feeling of being tired all day, falling asleep at school, and/or waking up in the morning still feeling tired.

Our task - Intelligent glass panels

Intelligent glass (electric switchable glass) can be controlled automatically and it means that can be programmed to switch on or off during certain times of day or the system can be connected to body sensors monitoring sleeping symptoms to activate glass control when a certain level of light is detected. Alternatively, it can be programmed to activate with movement sensors, remote controls, and standard button switches.