Monitor Sleep With a Self-Powered Smart Pillow

Researchers of a team have discovered a self-powering smart pillow that tracks the position of the head and providess a potential solution for the sleep problems.

People who struggle to shut-eye may benefit from monitoring their sleep, but they have limited options for doing so. In a new study in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, it has been explained about a smart pillow that acts as a sensor more clearly.

Connection Between Sleep and the Smart Pillow

The human body needs as much sleep as it needs food and water. Yet many people fail to get enough sleep, thus affecting the mind and the body. Studies have linked chronic insomnia to physical ailments such as diabetes and heart disease and mental health problems.

About Sleep Disorder
Sleep disorders can either be having difficulty in getting sleep or dozing off at inappropriate time.

‘Recognizing the need, many groups have begun to develop new sleep monitoring systems using triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs).’

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Those who are interested in better dealing with what is happening to them at night have two primary options. They can perform a sleep test at a medical facility or use the app on a smartphone or smartwatch — a more convenient, but less accurate choice. Recognizing the need, many groups have begun to develop new sleep monitoring systems using triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs).

These self-powered systems take the form of eye masks, belts, patches and bed sheets. Ding Li, Zhong Lin Wang and their colleagues wanted to modify this approach to create a more comfortable version over the movement of the head during sleep.

To create this new smart pillow, researchers developed a flexible, porous polymer triboelectric layer. The motion between the head and this layer converts the electric field around the adjacent electrodes and creates current. Many of these self-propelled sensors were combined to create a flexible and breathable TENG (FB-TENG) array that could be placed on top of a normal pillow.

Insomnia | Sleeping Difficulty - Symptom Evaluation
Insomnia may be due to physiological, psychological, physical or environmental factors. Insomnia should be treated promptly in order to improve the quality of life and prevent other health problems.

This system can generate a voltage similar to the amount of pressure used, and it can monitor the movement of the finger detecting the letters. FB-TENG can catch the pressure spread of a fake human head. Researchers say that this smart pillow could be used beyond monitoring sleep using a sensor.

For example, this sensor monitors patients with diseases that affect the movement of the head, that is, degenerative neck disorder cervical spondylosis. What’s more, they say that the smart pillow could be modified to provide an early warning system for those at risk of falling out of bed.

Sleep - Overview and Definition
Sleep is a behavioral state of restricted physical activity. It is controlled by our internal biological clock.

Source-Medindia