Nighttime temperature and human sleep loss in a changing climate

Human sleep is highly regulated by temperature. Might climate change—through increases in nighttime heat—disrupt sleep in the future? The study looks at the relationship between sleep and ambient temperature and provides the first evidence that climate change may disrupt human sleep.

Read the full story on the website of Science Magazine

It is clear that the importance of choosing the right materials or technologies to keep the mattress and the bedroom cool will become more and more evident.

Benchmarking sleep comfort for bedding industry

In this article, published by Huntsman in SleepTech magazine, the use of the µClimat sensormat to measure the hygrothermal behaviour of a person sleeping on a mattress is described. This is a major aspect of sleep comfort in current mattresses.

While the pressure mapping of a visco foam mattress is known in the industry, the measure of hygrothermal behavior of a person sleeping on a mattress is relatively new. Little is known in public literature about the transmission of moisture and heat through mattresses. In collaboration with the test lab Custom8 (a spin-off lab from the Biomechanics Department of the University of Leuven, Belgium), Huntsman was able to develop a method to bench mark sleep comfort in terms of pressure distribution, as well as the hygrothermal behavior of the microclimate between the participant and the mattress.

The hygrothermal behavior of the microclimate refers to the change in temperature of the microclimate and the dissipation of humidity in the microclimate over time. The μCliMat is a patented sensor mat from Custom8 containing temperature and humidity sensors specifically designed for the use in layered flexible materials such as mattresses and car seats. With the μCliMat sensors, two full size mats were constructed to be able to do measurements of the sleep comfort with a test person of 80kg. Afterwards a 3D image was created by using the μCliMon software provided by Custom8

Evolving technologies in sleep medicine – Finding the dream

Recently an interesting article was published by Johan Verbraeken in Breathe, the clinical educational publication from the European Respiratory Society

Nocturnal polysomnography (PSG) is the most important laboratory technique in the management of sleep–wake disturbances and is considered the “gold standard”. New sensor technologies are entering the field of sleep medicine, and rapid development in telecommunications and mobile technology has accelerated the introduction of telemedicine as a viable and reliable option. The present broad review article is an amalgam of the current knowledge with proposed new sensors and remote control.

The full article is accessible on line.

Prof Dr. Johan Verbraecken is the medical coordinator at the Multidisciplinary Sleep Wake Disorders Center Antwerp University Hospital (UZA), and an expert in respiratory sleep medicine for over 20 years.