A Wearable Device Evaluation for Medication Management in Patients Taking Sleep Medicine via Cloud Platform Development( I )

According to the 2013 Taiwan National Sleep Survey, 21.8% of Taiwan population suffered chronic insomnia, which equates to over 6 million sufferers. This was particularly a problem in the elderly population, as nearly a third of the group is affected. As a result, the number of sleep centers in Taiwan increased 10-fold during the past 10 years. However, conducting sleep assessments at hospitals is not just inconvenient, time-consuming and costly, the medical treatments available was also only for a portion of the sleeping disorders (mainly sleep apnea). The only solution to many other problems is to prescribe sleep pills for relief. Yet, sleeping pills and similar drugs can cause many side-effects such as drowsiness and drug-dependence. Taiwanese are too dependent on sleeping pills. According to investigation carried out in 2014 by the Food and Drug Administration of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taiwanese consumed over 300 million sleeping pills annually. In addition to causing side-effects such as lack of concentration, sleeping pills can also increase cancer risks. An analysis of the Taiwan National Health Care Insurance Database conducted by Professor Yu-Chuan Li, the Dean of the College of Medical Science and Technology at Taipei Medical University, showed continuous use of sleeping pills for over 3 months can increase risk of brain cancer by 98% (Medicine, Impact factor = 4.867, ranking = 9.6%). However, adjusting the dosage or discontinuing usage requires professional assessment from medical doctors. Any sudden change might cause serious withdrawal, rebound anxiety and insomnia, or decrease drug tolerance. Yet, there is often a gap in the available information, caused by the difficulties for the doctors to gather daily sleeping data, which can prevent the success of following interventions employing various health promoting services and health educations. This project, “A wearable device evaluation for medication management in patients taking sleep medicine via cloud platform development seeks to develop “sleep medicine and medication management system”, and “sleep quality monitoring and analysis system”，using HRV sensor patch and blood oximeter from Taiwanese technology companies. The reliability of measured signal and stability of wireless transfer will be confirmed by the data verification team. The usability of the system will be further increased by the incorporation of “relaxation and sleep education system” to provide an at-home system for patient health education. The development of the system will be supported by teams of medical experts from the Psychiatric Departments of Taipei Medical University Hospital and Shuang Ho Hospital, through clinical trials. This project is an integration of five disciplinary teams in biomedical informatics, biomedical engineering, electrical and electronic engineering, education information management, and clinical validation, in addition to having collaboration between Universities and Taiwan wearable device manufacturers. Through the development of a Cloud platform for sleep medicine and the collection of large quantities of clinical data, this project can hopefully further the understanding of the factors and the variables affecting insomnia. Additionally, by leading the technical advancement and development of wearable technologies, the value-added service industry of health promotion in Taiwan will be further propelled forward, carrying us one step closer to fulfilling the vision of giving all insomniacs around the globe a good night’s sleep.