Wearable device for increasing the slow wave sleep stage by electrocutaneous stimulation

Abstract

Insufficient sleep has been found to be associated with a wide range of negative health and social outcomes. The pharmacological approach to this problem often raise issues related to dependence and residual daytime side effects. An alternative approach offering a potential solution to sleep deprivation is a non-pharmacological technique based on applying electrocutaneous stimulation during the slow wave sleep (SWS) stage with the goal to increase it. This paper presents a compact wearable sleep monitoring device prototype having the capabilities of tracking the sleep stages during the consecutive night sleep cycles, identifying the SWS stage and increasing it by applying electrocutaneous stimulation to the skin of the palm. Embedded into the device prototype are sensors for monitoring body movements, temperature and heart rate during the consecutive night sleep cycles and can be used for more precise detection of the SWS stage. The device prototype allows for local and cloud storage and processing of the acquired sleep data.