Health Care
People living in today's complex society need good sleep to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Sleep determination depends on EEG measurement, but it is difficult to measure it in daily life without disturbing the subject's sleep, because numerous electrodes need to be worn on the head during sleep. Therefore, there have been many attempts to estimate sleep state from body movements, heartbeats, pulse waves, respiration, etc. using various sensors. Our goal is to realize a system that can easily measure body movements, pulse waves, and respiration during sleep at home, without placing a burden on the subject, using piezoelectric braided cord that can be incorporated into soft materials such as cloth.
Many research groups are currently attempting to use non-contact sensors, in which motion sensors are placed under the bedding, but it is difficult to determine the quality of sleep from the data obtained because it picks up a variety of disturbances during the night. Piezoelectric braided cord, on the other hand, can detect not only large body movements such as tossing and turning during sleep, but also very small movements such as pulsations.
Pillow with piezoelectric braided cord (to sense respiration, pulse, and teeth grinding)
Bed sheet with piezoelectric braid cord (to measure tossing and turning, respiration, and pulse)
The flexibility of the piezoelectric braid cord allows to be tied or untied, or embroidered on fabrics. The type of stitching is selected to be suitable for detecting breathing and pulsation during sleep.
