Dynamic white lighting to aid sleep and vision for persons living with dementia using off-the-shelf LED strips

Opt Express. 2021 Nov 8;29(23):38606-38614. doi: 10.1364/OE.443050.

Abstract

Alzheimer disease and related dementias affect 15-20% of elderly people, and 60-70% of these suffer from sleep disturbances. Studies suggest that lighting can improve sleep. The key challenge is how to deliver light effectively. We have designed a lighting system that adjusts spectrum and irradiance on a 24-hour timetable to provide spatially uniform, shadow-free white light with CRI>85 and up to 1000 Lux for day vision and amber light for night vision. To aid sleep, melanopic illuminance varies over 3 orders of magnitude to enable strong suppression of melatonin in the morning/early afternoon, moderate suppression in the evening, and no suppression at night.

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Alzheimer Disease / complications*
  • Circadian Clocks / physiology
  • Humans
  • Light*
  • Lighting / instrumentation
  • Lighting / methods*
  • Melatonin / metabolism
  • Phototherapy / instrumentation
  • Phototherapy / methods*
  • Sleep Wake Disorders / etiology
  • Sleep Wake Disorders / therapy*
  • Time Factors
  • Vision, Ocular / physiology*

Substances

  • Melatonin