Team: Emmalyn Chen, Rachel Cheng, Ernest Lai, Peter Mains
Purpose:
Multiple factors can contribute to delirium, including sleep disturbances, old age, treatment with multiple drugs, poor nutrition, and medical procedures. Many of these causes are often unavoidable in a hospital setting. However, one factor that can be addressed is sleep disturbance. While it is unclear whether sleep disturbance causes delirium or delirium causes sleep disturbance, the two are believed to be linked. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence Guidelines for Prevention of Delirium recommends promoting good sleep quality as a preventative measure for delirium: “Promote good sleep patterns and sleep hygiene by avoiding nursing or medical procedures during sleep hours, if possible; scheduling medication rounds to avoid disturbing sleep; and reducing noise to a minimum during sleep periods.” This project aims to develop a device for monitoring patient sleeping and minimizing sleep disruptions in the hospital environment.