The fifth annual International Space Apps Challenge which brings together teams from all over the world to try and solve specific NASA challenges is coming to a close. One of the top twenty-five teams has proposed an idea if implemented could relieve us from sleep deprivation problems. Their idea is a device that can help you sleep better called hypnos."
The fifth annual International Space Apps Challenge which brings together teams from all over the world to try and solve specific NASA challenges is coming to a close. One of the top twenty-five teams has proposed an idea if implemented could relieve us from sleep deprivation problems. Their idea is a device that can help you sleep better called hypnos."
"My roommate Thomas and I are currently researchers at the Harvard-MIT HST Division & Brigham and Women's Hospital and both our projects involve a lot of overnight experiments which did cause sleep issues to some extent. I think this initial motivation for hypnos stemmed from this idea that sleep deprivation was affecting our cognitive function on a daily basis." said Sachin Bhagchandani, one of the team members.
"With Aaron and Gabriel's help at the NASA Space Apps Challenge happening at the Harvard GSD, we discussed about how although humans have leveraged light and sound in intuitive ways to better our existence by stimulating powerful psychological and corresponding physiological responses through communication or art, we have not given appropriate weight to the merit of using these media as clinical modalities to stimulate tunable physiological responses." added Sachin.
The objective of our device is to naturally reprogram circadian and autonomic processes that modulate sleep and wake in individuals via a personal wearable format. This concept is inspired by research published across many peer-reviewed journals, including New England Journal of Medicine and Science Translational Medicine, by Charles Cziesler, Laura Barger, Seth Horowitz, and other pioneers in sleep modulation research, several of these investigators already being on NASA’s radar. By putting this into the hands of patients, we provide a way for people to address poor sleep patterns on their own, autonomously of the medical system. Further, this concept has the potential to reduce reliance of existing medical infrastructure on small molecule drugs. "concluded Sachin.
If Sachin and his team succeed they will receive funding to be able to bring this device to the market.
To vote for Sachin's team you can visit: https://2016.spaceappschallenge.org/challenges/space-station/rock-it-space-fashion-and-design/projects/hypnos
To learn more about the challenge and view other submissions you can visit: http://2016.spaceappschallenge.org/
You can watch the video below for more information
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 "Sachin Bhagchandani")
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