Sleep induction device and sleep induction method

Abstract

Disclosed is a sleep induction device which exhibits excellent hypnotic effects using light rather than ultrasonic waves or electrical voltages to induce sleep. When the face of a patient is irradiated with diffused ultra narrow band light having a FWHM of 10 nm or less, the specified wavelength of light has excellent hypnotic effects. The sleep induction device is provided with: an ultra narrow band light irradiation means which generates a blue to green ultra narrow band light having a FWHM of 10 nm or less and a peak wavelength range of 430-550 nm; and a diffusion means for reducing the illumination intensity of the light irradiated from the ultra narrow band light irradiation means onto the skin surface of the face to 1-300 lux, and expanding the emission area to the entire face. The green ultra narrow band light has a sleep-inducing effect, and the blue one has a stronger sleep-inducing effect.

Claims

1. A sound sleep inducing method characterized in that: projecting ultra-narrow band light in blue having a peak wavelength range of 450 to 470 nm and a half bandwidth of 3 nm or less to an entire face of a person with illuminance at an eye position in the face being 20 to 120 lux; controlling an irradiation energy of the light in blue at an irradiated portion in the face to be less than 1.0 J/cm.sup.2; and controlling an irradiation time in the light in blue to be from 5 to 15 minutes.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said ultra-narrow band light in blue has a peak wavelength of 460 nm.

3. A sound sleep inducing apparatus comprising: an ultra-narrow band light source which generates blue ultra-narrow band light having a peak wavelength range of 450 to 470 nm and a half bandwidth of 3 nm or less; and diffusing and illuminance adjusting means which diffuses an irradiation area of the light projected from the ultra-narrow band light source to at least a portion of a face of a person and which adjusts illuminance at a position of an eye in the face from 20 to 120 lux, wherein the apparatus controls an irradiation energy of the light in blue at an irradiated portion in the face by less than 1.0 J/cm.sup.2, an irradiation time of the light in blue to be from 5 to 15 minutes.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein said ultra-narrow band light in blue has a peak wavelength of 460 nm.

5. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein said ultra-narrow band light source comprises an LED light source and a bandpass filter.

6. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein said ultra-narrow band light source comprises an LED light source capable of projecting the ultra-narrow band light having the half bandwidth of 3 nm or less.

7. A sound sleep inducing method comprising: diffusing ultra-narrow band light in blue having a peak wavelength in a range of 450 to 470 nm and a half bandwidth of 3 nm or less; and projecting at least a portion of said ultra-narrow band light in blue to an entire face of a person while illuminance at an eye position in the face is 20 to 120 lux, without projecting light having a peak wavelength of 570 nm.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein said ultra-narrow band light in blue has a peak wavelength of 460 nm.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising controlling an irradiation time in the light in blue to be from 5 to 30 minutes.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising controlling an irradiation time in the light in blue to be from 5 to 15 minutes.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a used image diagram of the sound sleep inducing apparatus.

(2) FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the sound sleep inducing apparatus.

(3) FIG. 3 is an example of spectrum of the ultra-narrow band light emitted from the sound sleep inducing apparatus.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

(4) Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention is not limited to the illustrated construction. The present invention can be variously changed in design.

(5) FIG. 1 illustrates a used image diagram of the sound sleep inducing apparatus. A sound sleep inducing apparatus 1 induces sleep by irradiating the entirety of a face 21 of a person with ultra-narrow band light 20 in blue to green having a specific wavelength in a predetermined illuminance range.

(6) FIG. 2 illustrates a configuration diagram of an embodiment of the sound sleep inducing apparatus. The sound sleep inducing apparatus 1 includes a blue or green LED light source 7 having a half bandwidth of 20 to 40 nm mounted on the bottom part of a cylindrical main body 2, a bandpass filter 13 which narrows a wavelength band of light emitted from the LED light source 7, and a diffusing lens 12 which diffuses light in an ultra-narrow band area passing through the bandpass filter 13 and having a half bandwidth of 10 nm or less. An ON/OFF signal and power of the LED light source 7 is supplied through a signal/power cable 14. The bandpass filter 13 and the diffusing lens 12 are mounted on a housing frame 15 and are detachably attached to the cylindrical main body 2. Light in an ultra-narrow band area having a desired half bandwidth can be created by replacing the bandpass filter 13. An irradiation area can be adjusted by replacing the diffusing lens 12.

(7) As the LED light source 7, a parallel-light LED light source (model number: IBF-LS) by IMAC Co., Ltd. can be used. The light emitted from the LED light source 7 is ultra-long cast directive light. The inner diameter of the cylindrical main body 2, that is, a photo diameter of the parallel-light LED light source is approximately 5 cm, and this light is diffused by the diffusing lens 12.

(8) In the sound sleep inducing apparatus 1, as means for adjusting the illuminance of light in the ultra-narrow band area to be projected to a human face, intensity of the light source of the ultra-narrow band light inside the sound sleep inducing apparatus 1 is adjusted by placing an illuminometer beside the eyes of the human face 21 or by replacing the diffusing lens in the sound sleep inducing apparatus 1.

(9) It is also possible to incorporate an illuminance sensor in the sound sleep inducing apparatus 1, to place a mirror on the surface of the face, and by having the light reflected by the mirror measured by the illuminance sensor incorporated in the sound sleep inducing apparatus 1 so that the intensity of the ultra-narrow band light in the light source is automatically adjusted. The illuminometer used for the measurement of the embodiment described below is a TOPCOM (registered trademark) illuminometer IM-5.

(10) FIG. 3 illustrates an example of spectrum of the ultra-narrow band light emitted from the sound sleep inducing apparatus 1. The lateral axis indicates a wavelength and the vertical axis for intensity. The blue ultra-narrow band light has a center wavelength (peak wavelength) at 460 nm and a half bandwidth at 10 nm. The green ultra-narrow band light has a center wavelength (peak wavelength) at 530 nm and a half bandwidth at 10 nm.

Embodiment 1

(11) In Example 1, the excellent sleep inducing effect of the sound sleep inducing apparatus will be provided, including:

(12) 1-1) ultra-narrow band light projecting means which generates blue to green ultra-narrow band light having a peak wavelength range of 430 to 550 nm and a half bandwidth of 10 nm or less;

(13) 1-2) diffusing means which diffuses an irradiation area of the light projected from the ultra-narrow band light projecting means to the entire face of a person; and

(14) 1-3) illuminance adjusting means which adjusts illuminance at an eye position of the face to 1 to 300 lux.

(15) A clinical experiment was actually conducted for verifying the sleep inducing effect by using the sound sleep inducing apparatus for 100 subjects including men and women with the ages of 20 to 70. The ratio of men to women was 30:70. The ratio of women is higher simply because our clinic is specialized in cosmetic treatment and it does not have a special meaning. The ages of the subjects were 35 people in the 20's, 25 people in the 30's, 2.5 people in the 40's, and 15 people in the 50 to 60's. An example which will be described later was also conducted for the same subjects. The sleep inducing effect as indicated in Table 1 was obtained. In the Table, the number of those with a poor result was less than 40, those with fair was 40 to 59, these with good was 60 to 79, and those with very good was 80 or more.

(16) The result No. 1 in Table was obtained from determination of the sleep inducing effect by using some commercial LED light sources, each having a center wavelength (peak wavelength) in a range of 430 to 550 nm. In the case of the commercial LED light sources, the half bandwidth was varied from 15 to 40 nm. The LED light source was brought close to the face so as to obtain the illuminance at the eye position in the face of 1 to 450 lux, and the sleep inducing effect was determined. The result No. 2 in Table was obtained by using the No. 1 LED light source and configuring the sound sleep inducing apparatus configured as in FIG. 2. The light of the LED light source was set to the half bandwidth at 10 nm by using a bandpass filter. The sleep inducing effect was determined by bringing the LED light source close to the face to obtain the illuminance at the eye position in the face larger than 300 lux. The result No. 3 in Table was obtained by using the LED light source in No. 2, by configuring the sound sleep inducing apparatus configured as in FIG. 2, and by using the diffusing lens to adjust the illuminance at the eye position in the face to 1 to 300 lux.

(17) The result No. 10 is obtained by determining the sleep inducing effect by using some commercial LED light sources having the center wavelength (peak wavelength) outside the range of 430 to 550 nm. Specifically, the sleep inducing effect was determined by using the LED light source (half bandwidth at 35 nm) having the center wavelength (peak wavelength) at 405 nm and the LED light source (half bandwidth at 25 nm) having the center wavelength at 570 nm.

(18) TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Determination of the sleep No. inducing effect 1 LED having a peak wavelength of 430 to 550 nm fair 2 No. 1 LED having the half bandwidth of 10 nm or good less 3 No. 2 LED having illuminance at the eye position very good in the face adjusted to 1 to 300 lux 10 LED having the peak wavelength of 405 nm or poor 570 nm

Embodiment 2

(19) Subsequently, in Example 2, the excellent sleep inducing effect of the sound sleep inducing apparatus will be described, including:

(20) 2-1) ultra-narrow band light projecting means which generates blue ultra-narrow band light having a peak wavelength range of 430 to 500 nm and a half bandwidth of 10 nm or less;

(21) 2-2) diffusing means which diffuses an irradiation area of the light projected from the ultra-narrow band light projecting means to the entire face of a person; and

(22) 2-3) illuminance adjusting means which adjusts illuminance at an eye position of the face to 1 to 300 lux.

(23) A clinical test was conducted by actually using the sound sleep inducing apparatus, and the sleep inducing effect as illustrated in Table 2 was obtained.

(24) TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Determination of the sleep No. inducing effect 4 Blue LED having a peak wavelength of 430 to fair 550 nm 5 No. 4 Blue LED having the half bandwidth of good 10 nm or less 6 No. 5 Blue LED having illuminance at the eye very good position in the face adjusted to 1 to 300 lux

Embodiment 3

(25) Subsequently, in Example 3, the excellent sleep inducing effect of the sound sleep inducing apparatus will be described, including:

(26) 3-1) ultra-narrow band light projecting means which generates green ultra-narrow band light having a peak wavelength range of 500 to 530 nm and a half bandwidth of 10 nm or less;

(27) 3-2) diffusing means which diffuses an irradiation area of the light projected from the ultra-narrow band light projecting means to the entire face of a person; and

(28) 3-3) illuminance adjusting means which adjusts illuminance at an eye position of the face to 1 to 300 lux.

(29) A clinical experiment was conducted by actually using the sound sleep inducing apparatus, and the sleep inducing effect as illustrated in Table 3 was obtained.

(30) TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Determination of the sleep No. inducing effect 7 Green LED having a peak wavelength of 500 to fair 550 nm 8 No. 7 Green LED having the half bandwidth of good 10 nm or less 9 No. 8 Green LED having illuminance at the eye very good position in the face adjusted to 1 to 300 lux

(31) Experiment data used for determination of the sleep inducing effect in Tables 1 to 3 is illustrated in Table 4. Each No. here corresponds to No. in Tables 1 to 3.

(32) TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 4 20's 30's 40's 50 to 60's Total Non- Non- Non- Non- Non- No. Effective effective Effective effective Effective effective Effective effective Effective effective 1 16 19 9 16 10 15 7 8 42 58 2 24 11 16 9 15 10 11 4 66 34 3 32 3 21 4 21 4 13 2 87 13 4 19 16 11 14 12 13 9 6 51 49 5 26 9 19 6 18 7 12 3 75 25 6 34 1 22 3 22 3 14 1 92 8 7 6 29 4 21 5 20 3 12 18 82 8 18 17 10 15 11 14 5 10 44 56 9 22 13 16 9 17 8 9 6 64 36 10 5 30 4 21 5 20 1 14 15 85

(33) The 1.0.0 subjects of men and women in their 20's to 70's include 15 insomnia monitors. The insomnia monitors refer to those who need sleeping pills when going to bed at night. The 15 insomnia monitors are 5 men and 10 women and are composed of 2 men and 4 women in the 20's, 1 man and 3 women in the 30's, 1 man and 2 women in the 40's, and 1 man and 1 woman in the 50 to 60's. The insomnia monitors are found to have obtained the 100.% effect in No. 3, No, 6, and No. 9.

Embodiment 4

(34) In Example 4, the result of examination of a suitable value of illuminance at the eye position in the face by using the ultra-narrow band light (No. 3, No. 6, and No. 9) having the half bandwidth of 10 nm in Examples 1, 2, and 3 is shown. In the ultra-narrow band light (No. 3, No. 6, and No. 9) having the half bandwidth of 10 nm in Examples 1, 2, and 3, the illuminance at the eye position in the face was set to 1, 15, 20, 50, 80, 120, 125, 250, 300, 330 (lux), and the experiment was conducted. The result of the sleep inducing effect as illustrated in Table 5 was obtained. In Table, those with a fair result were 40 to 59 persons, those with good were 60 to 79 persons, those with very good were 80 to 92 persons, and those with NA were 93 persons or more.

(35) TABLE-US-00005 TABLE 5 No. 1 15 20 50 80 120 125 250 300 330 3 good good very good NA NA NA NA very good good faire 6 good good very good NA NA very good good good good faire 9 good good good very good NA NA NA very good good faire

Embodiment 5

(36) In Example 5, the fact that the ultra-narrow band light having the half bandwidth of 3 nm had a better sleep inducing effect than the ultra-narrow band light having the half bandwidth of 10 nm in Examples 1, 2, and 3 (No. 3, No, 6, and No. 9) will be described. The ultra-narrow band light having the half bandwidth of 3 nm was realized by replacing the bandpass filter.

(37) A clinical test was conducted by actually using the sound sleep inducing apparatus of the ultra-narrow band light having the half bandwidth of 3 nm and the apparatus having the half bandwidth of 10 nm, and the result of the sleep inducing effect as illustrated in Table 6 was obtained. Nos. in Table 6 correspond to Nos. in Tables 1 to 3. The numerical values in Table indicate the number of monitors with the higher sleep inducing effect by using the sound sleep inducing apparatus of the ultra-narrow band light having the half bandwidth of 3 nm than the apparatus having the half bandwidth of 10 nm in the 100 monitors and those with the higher sleep inducing effect by using the sound sleep inducing apparatus of the ultra-narrow band light having the half bandwidth of 10 nm than the apparatus having the half bandwidth of 3 nm.

(38) As illustrated in Table 6, 80% or more of the monitors obtained the higher sleep inducing effect by using the sound sleep inducing apparatus of the ultra-narrow band light having the half bandwidth of 3 nm than the apparatus having the half bandwidth of 10 nm. The conditions other than the half bandwidth are the same.

(39) TABLE-US-00006 TABLE 6 20's 30's 40's 50 to 60's Total No. 3 nm 10 nm 3 nm 10 nm 3 nm 10 nm 3 nm 10 nm 3 nm 10 nm 3 29 6 22 3 21 4 13 2 85 15 6 30 5 21 4 22 3 13 2 84 14 9 28 7 21 4 20 5 12 3 81 19

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

(40) The present invention is useful as an apparatus and a Method for promoting sleep.

(41) [Description of Symbols]

(42) 1. Sound sleep inducing apparatus

(43) 2. Cylindrical main body

(44) 7. LED light source

(45) 12. Diffusing lens

(46) 13. Bandpass filter

(47) 14. Signal/Power cable

(48) 15. Housing frame

(49) 20. Person with ultra-narrow band light

(50) 21. Human face