The first smart health connected pajamas will allow you to sleep like a baby

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Researchers at the University of Massachusetts managed to create smart health connected pajamas capable of analyzing the sleeper's posture, breathing and heart rate. An invention that could arrive on the market as early as 2021 for a price of about $ 100, and allow millions of people to improve the quality of their sleep. 

Sleeping well is important for your health. A good night's sleep protects against stress, infections and many diseases, especially in the heart and kidneys. It also prevents too high blood pressure, and tends to prevent diabetes. In addition, multiple studies show that quality sleep increases mental capacity and makes better decisions.

Unfortunately, most people do not sleep well enough or not in the right way. This is the reason why "The sleep industry" is exploding. In 2017, the market was estimated at $ 29 billion worldwide.

Today there are many smart health connected mattresses on the market, supposed to detect the user's movements to improve his posture. However, these devices do not provide detailed information to the user and have the disadvantage of not being transportable.

Likewise, most of the smart health connected wristbands available provide the wearer with information about his heart rate and monitor his sleep time. However, until now, no consumer device really allowed the user to monitor his posture during sleep or to detect heart and respiratory signals that are symptomatic of poor quality sleep.

It's done now. As part of the American Chemical Society (ACS) Spring 2019 National Meeting & Exposition, the University of Massachusetts researchers unveil first smart health connected pajamas.

Thanks to the self-powered sensors that it is equipped with, these pajamas of a new kind are capable of monitor the heartbeat, breathing and posture of the wearer continuously. Based on the data collected, the user will be able to better understand why he sleeps badly and therefore improve his sleep.

smart health connected pajamas detect posture, heart rate and sleeper breathing

(Embed) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdiVnoTCa-M (/ embed)

To create this smart pajamas, the researchers had to overcome many obstacles. As Trisha L. Andrew, the project director, said, it was necessary to find a way to integrate sensors and power sources into ordinary pajamas without altering weight, texture or comfort. In addition, scientists have had to rely on computer scientists and electrical engineers to process the myriad of signals emitted by sensors to simplify the understanding of information.

The smart health connected pajamas is largely based on a process called "chemical vapor deposition". It is a method of vacuum deposition of thin films from gaseous precursors. This method allowed researchers to synthesize a polymer for simultaneous deposition on vapor-phase tissue to form electronic components and integrated sensors. These deposited electronic polymer films have the advantage of being washable, and adapted to the many twists suffered by pajamas on a daily basis.

At the University of Massachusetts, a prototype called "Phyjama" embeds five textile patches each concealing a sensor. These patches are interconnected using nylon threads covered in cotton. The threads of each patch are smart health connected to a circuit board the size of a button, placed in the same place as a pajama button. The data collected by the sensors is transmitted wirelessly to a receiver using a small Bluetooth transmitter also hidden in the button.

The Phyjama embeds two types of sensors. One detects ballistic movements, the other changes pressure. Four of the patches are piezoelectric and detect the constant pressure. They will for example check the position of the user against his mattress to assess his posture.

The fifth patch is triboelectric and detects rapid changes in pressure. It can for example identify changes in heartbeat carrier to collect data on his heart rate.

The volunteers who tested this pajamas of the future validated the conclusions drawn by the sensors, demonstrating that this invention could really improve the sleep quality of many people. Researchers are looking for a partner capable of making pajamas on a large scale, and believe the product may be available on the market within two years for a price of 100 to 200 dollars.

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