Hydrus - Space Apps Challenge

Hydrus| Sleep Shift Scheduling Tool

Awards & Nominations

Hydrus has received the following awards and nominations. Way to go!

Global Nominee

Sleep Shift Scheduling Tool

Sleep loss and fatigue may lead to reduced performance and an increased risk to safety during many activities, including spaceflight. Your challenge is to develop an operational sleep shift scheduling tool that provides autonomous customization of a schedule for sleep, exercise, and nutrition to manage fatigue.

Morfeo

Summary

Human beings require 8 hours of sleep to perform efficiently in their day to day and stay healthy. In multiple studies carried out by NASA and MMR, the results show that astronauts do not meet this requirement, sleeping on average 6 hours daily, which can cause fatigue, decreased cognitive activity, and motor skills. Morfeo is an application designed to help astronauts improve their quality of sleep by monitoring the hours and phases of sleep, food, exercise, medications, and the jetlag effect, unlike other applications.

How We Addressed This Challenge

An algorithm capable of reducing the jetlag effect was developed, through a schedule that indicates the recommended hours for the user to start and end their day, as well as the suggested time for them to be exposed to a lower intensity blue light known for its ability to induce sleep. The goal is that when the user reaches their destination it only takes two days to adapt to the new time zone. Considering that prior to the trip they must modify their sleep routine for a number of days that the algorithm calculates, increasing or decreasing one hour depending on the direction of their trip (east +1, west -1)

A function was programmed to measure the distance between the peaks of an ECG signal, to define the different stages of sleep, and thus be able to know how much time the user spends in deep sleep and light sleep to ensure if the user is resting enough.

The plan is to develop a bracelet with photodiodes that obtains the signal from the user

To keep all the information from their trip to space, we created a relational database in SQL Server. This database has 17 tables. All the information we have here is to ensure the astronauts have a good sleep. In the future, we want to put all the ISS Food Database into our SQL so we can have more accurate information. The database is connected to an interface so it's easy for the user to register their information.

This diagram shows the relation between the tables.

We created the interface in Visual Studio with C#. The project has a login page, to access your username and password must be in the database. Once you are login you there are different options, you can choose between some options:

Profile: This window shows the astronaut´s personal information.

Meals: Here the astronaut registers each one of the meals. They must add the hour, type of food, and what they eat.

Sleep: Each morning they must answer a little survey of how their sleep was, the hour they go to sleep, what time they woke up, if they woke up during the night, and the reasons this happen. They also answer what type of light they used, if they had music and if they used sleeping pills.

We created a method in MatLab that tells how many hours they were in deep sleep. We are able to calculate it with the bracelet that is an electrocardiogram that astronauts would wear.

In case that the astronaut had had less than 6:30hrs the app automatically schedules a nap taking into consideration his/her exercise routine.

Exercise: Once they arrive they must log in to MORFEO and the app will give them their exercise schedule. This is to avoid going to use the same equipment at the same time. In the future, this will also have more specialized routines.

Trip: We know the importance of being well-rested, this is why in Trip we have the itinerary for the astronauts to go to sleep before the launch. This because of the different time zones each one has, so we can avoid jetlag and they can adapt better to their new sleep schedule.

Log out: This is for logging out of Morfeo.

All of the changes are automatically saved in our database.

How We Developed This Project

As students, we recognize the importance of quality sleep and how the lack of it can significantly affect your performance and mood.

Our approach was to divide the problem into three different segments

Jet Lag
Sleep quality
Database

Jet Lag

In order to counteract the Jet Lag effect, an algorithm was developed that shows a suggested schedule. Including the hours to consider to go to sleep and wake up, before the trip and two days after arriving at the destination. Two functions were created not to exclude the difference of traveling in both directions: east (+ 1 h) and west (- 1 h). The data entered is regarding sleep habits and travel planning: departure and arrival date, departure and arrival city and continent. Using the departure and arrival values, the number of time zones traveled on the trip to be made is calculated, from these, the number of days it will take the person to adapt their biological clock is obtained, recovering their lag in their circadian cycle and your sleep pattern. After the trip, it will take two days to carry out this synchronization, as long as the schedule shown for the previous days is complied with. Additionally, a suggested schedule for exposure to light is included as a sleep-inducing parameter, conditional on starting half an hour before bedtime.

Sleep Quality

Currently, electrocardiograms and respiratory signals are used to monitor astronauts' sleep quality. We develop a function that measures the distance between hearth beats, categorizes them between light sleep and deep sleep, thanks to this we can measure the hours that the user was in deep sleep.

To test it, we simulated an 8-hour electrocardiogram using Matlab Works functions, in which the two phases of sleep were experienced and we obtained the seconds in which the hearth beats occurred to later analyze them in our function and check the results.

The goal is to be able to obtain the ECG signal through a bracelet with the help of photodiodes, this in order to be as less invasive as possible.

Database

We use SQL Server to create the database. The main table is called Astronaut where all the personal information is saved, by the idAstr (Id of the Astronaut) we connect the other tables, using idAstr as their foreign keys. This is to keep a record of every astronaut's information.

All the information is retrieved from the interface with the use of Entity Framework and queries, the data is saved automatically to the database and as a plan, it will give more specialized recommendations for sleeping. We want to find a tendency with the information and its relation to sleeping badly.

From the exercise table, Morfeo can know the routine of all the astronauts on board, so when given their weekly schedule everybody has a different one, this is to avoid wanting to use the equipment at the same time.

Tools, coding language and software used:

Matlab
SQL(relational data base)
Visual Studio
c#
Access
Entity frame work
ODBC

Problems

We had some problems with the DateTime format, when saving the information from VisualStudio it had a different format so when running our query to save it in the database it through an error. We solve this by changing the date format in the configuration of the laptop.

When trying to pass the information from excel to Access, Access couldn't save that many rows. So we had to use a smaller one, but the purpose is to have a connection with all the data from the sleeping phases. This to be more accurate on the deep sleep hours.

Achievements

It was possible to simulate an ECG, programs a function that classifies the sleep phases from the ECG, create an algorithm that automatically develops a schedule and a database with the nutritional and general information of the astronauts

How We Used Space Agency Data in This Project

We read the importance of a 8 hours sleep, and that normally astronaunts only get from 5 hours to 6.5 hours. Because of this, they usually need naps and have high consumption of sleeping pills. And as consecuence of the bad rest they use alertness medicine. Therefore, we decided to make an app in which the astronaut every morning register some specific data of his sleep. The app will evaluate the data and give recommendations to rest better, this includes scheduling a nap, changing your sleeping light, etc.

https://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/livinginspace/03jun_naps.html#:~:text=NASA%2Dsupported%20sleep%20researchers%20are,%2C%20they%20usually%20don't.&text=Studies%20show%20that%20astronauts%20typically,than%20they%20do%20on%20Earth.

https://spinoff.nasa.gov/Spinoff2015/hm_2.html

We read that light can estimulate alertness and melatonine in your body depending on intensity and color of light. Therefore, our app will register the light that you are using to sleep, and with this we want to find a more personalized tendency on the relation between light and sleep.

Also, light exposure can alter the circadian cycle. So we will have bracelet with light sensors that tells an astronaut´s light exposure. These bracelet also determinates the sleeping phases.

https://thenextweb.com/syndication/2020/05/09/how-to-take-better-naps-according-to-astronauts

Music also influences sleep. Constant low-amplitud vibrations reduce the wakefulness. This is way we take in consideration the melody astronauts go to sleep with. In this research they show some of the CDs mixtures of songs that help you sleep.

https://spinoff.nasa.gov/Spinoff2015/hm_2.html

The food is an important part of the astronauts space life. We use this information to create a space food database. In future plans this database will be more complete and will evaluted if there´s food that affects an astronaut´s sleep.

https://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/stem-on-station/ditl_eating

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/space-station-20th-food-on-iss

https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/143163main_Space.Food.and.Nutrition.pdf

To prevent jet lags and be ready to work as soon as they arrived, astronauts most prepare their bodies some days before the launch. This is why we created a method that creates a personalized sleeping schedule.

https://www.nasa.gov/stem-ed-resources/TSD_Launching_Video.html

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/ames/nasa-research-reveals-biological-clock-misalignment-effects-on-sleep-for-astronauts

Astronauts most exercise 2.5 hours a day 6 days out of the 7 days of the week. Due to the limited space they have 3 different machines that helps them exercise. The app will schedule the best time for them to exercise without interfering with day daily work. If there is no enough space for equipment, the database will include equipment-free exercise.

https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/29/16217348/nasa-iss-how-do-astronauts-exercise-in-space

https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/F_Your_Body_in_Space.html

https://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/stem-on-station/ditl_exercising

We read a little of Circadian misalignment affects sleep and medication use

before and during spaceflight from Erin E. Flynn-Evans and others to learn whice are the importat factors that altered de circadian cycle. Also to estimate the circadian phase we would use the Circadian performance simulation software (CPSS version 2.1, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA). Most of the variables are consider inputs in this interface, but there are other variables like light exposure that will be calculated using a light sensor.

Judging

This project was submitted for consideration during the Space Apps Judging process.