SBIR Phase I: Restoring natural sleep for adolescents: circadian clock advancement at night assisted with mobile application-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy

该小企业创新研究 (SBIR) 第一阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是解决美国青少年长期睡眠不足的问题，最近的大流行使这一问题变得更加严重。青少年的自然生物钟通常比成年人晚运行1-3小时，导致容易熬夜、入睡困难、总睡眠时间不足、早晨昏昏欲睡。该项目旨在通过推进生物钟来改善青少年和年轻人的睡眠，从而实现更健康的睡眠。如今，美国有近 4200 万 11-19 岁的青少年，另有 1890 万 20-24 岁的年轻人，使得该项目的商业潜力仅在美国就具有 100 亿美元的市场机会。这个小企业创新研究 (SBIR) 第一阶段项目正在将睡眠疗法的创新商业化。 美国大约有一半的青少年和年轻人睡眠不足。当治疗师亲自进行治疗时，认知行为疗法（CBT）在一定程度上有效，但面对面的模型不可扩展。睡眠不足会对身体和神经认知发育产生负面影响，导致注意力不集中、成绩不佳、患糖尿病和长期心血管问题的风险增加，以及心理健康问题、抑郁和自杀的风险增加。 所提出的解决方案应用了最新的睡眠研究，并将其创新为夜间佩戴的产品，并计划以产品硬件和远程医疗支持的集成解决方案推向市场。该解决方案带来的更健康的睡眠可能会带来更好的恢复，改善记忆力和注意力，并增强神经认知和身体发育。它还可以降低患抑郁症和其他心理健康问题的风险。身心健康的增强可能会对社会产生其他积极影响，例如降低医疗费用和防止睡眠不足引起的事故。短光脉冲可能会改变人类受试者在睡眠期间的昼夜节律阶段。基于闪光技术，该团队建议创建一种智能睡眠面罩，在夜间睡眠时发出闪光，以有效推进青少年的昼夜节律阶段，而不干扰他们的白天活动。这种闪光技术将辅以通过移动应用程序提供的认知行为疗法 (CBT)，以促进早睡和更好的睡眠卫生。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优点和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to address chronic sleep deprivation among American teenagers, which has only been made worse by the recent pandemic. Adolescents' natural internal circadian clocks typically run 1-3 hours later than adults, leading to the tendency to stay up late, difficulty falling asleep, insufficient total sleep time, and morning grogginess. This project is designed to improve sleep for adolescents and young adults by advancing their circadian clocks leading to healthier sleep. Today, there are almost 42 million adolescents in the United States aged 11-19, and another 18.9 million young adults aged 20-24, making the commercial potential of this project to be a $10 Billion market opportunity in the United States alone.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is commercializing an innovation in sleep therapy. Approximately half of all American adolescents and young adults in the United States do not get enough sleep. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for insomnia has been somewhat effective when administered by a therapist in person, but the in-person model is not scalable. Lack of sleep can negatively impact physical and neurocognitive development, leading to inability to concentrate, poor grades, higher risk of diabetes and long-term cardiovascular problems, and increased risk of mental health issues, depression, and suicide. The proposed solution applies recent sleep research and innovates it into a product worn at night and plans to go to market with an integrated solution of both the product hardware and telehealth support. Healthier sleep brought by this solution may lead to better recovery, improved memories and concentration, and enhanced neurocognitive and physical development. It may also reduce the risks for depression and other mental health issues. The enhanced physical and mental health may have other positive impacts in society, for example, reducing healthcare costs and preventing accidents caused by sleep deprivation. Short light pulses may alter circadian phases of human subjects during sleep. Based on light flash technology, the team proposes creating a smart sleep mask that emits light flashes at night during sleep to effectively advance teenagers’ circadian phases without disrupting their daytime activities. This light flash technology will be assisted with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) delivered via a mobile application to promote earlier bedtime and better sleep hygiene.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.