Active heating and cooling surfaces
Robert Klatt
Mattress with active heating and cooling surfaces
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- One Mattress with active heating and cooling surfaces supports the natural human biorhythmwhich reduces the core temperature of the body at bedtime
- That Mattress thermal system provides for a in healthy people falling asleep faster and better sleep quality
A new mattress with an active heating and cooling system lets people fall asleep significantly faster and significantly improves sleep quality.
Austin (USA). the optimal sleep duration for adults is seven hours according to a study by Fudan University. When people sleep significantly less, their cognitive performance decreases and their general well-being deteriorates. Continuous less than five hours of sleep a night According to University College London (UCL), they also increase the risk of many chronic diseases.
engineers from the University of Texas at Austin have now introduced a mattress with an active thermal system that can improve sleep quality. According to their publication in Journal of Sleep Research the heating and cooling system of the mattress supports the natural biorhythm of the human being. This reduces the body’s core temperature by up to one degree Celsius when it’s time to sleep.
Mattress with sleep-promoting thermal system
This phenomenon of Sleep-The mattress actively supports the waking rhythm by cooling the spinal column area via water or air channels. In addition, the edges of the mattress are heated and a pillow with a heating system is used that has a sleep-inducing effect on the heat sensors in the neck area. As Shahab Haghayegh of Harvard Medical School explains, the interaction of the warmth– and cooling surfaces the thermostat of the body.
“We facilitate sleep readiness by manipulating the body’s temperature sensors to momentarily adjust the body’s thermostat to think the temperature is higher than it actually is.”
Test subjects prove the sleep-promoting effect of the thermal system
The innovative mattress was tested with eleven healthy male subjects who went to sleep two hours earlier than normal during the study phase. The thermal system of the mattress and pillow was sometimes activated and sometimes not activated. The scientists were able to observe that the subjects with the activated thermal system fell asleep 58 percent faster on average.
In addition, measurements of the brain waves show that the quality of sleep was improved by the thermal system. According to Kenneth Diller, the results show that the active thermal system can improve sleep in healthy people.
“It’s remarkable how effective gentle warming along the cervical spine is, signaling the body to increase blood flow to the hands and feet to lower core temperature and accelerate sleep. The same effect also allows blood pressure to drop slightly overnight, which has the benefit of allowing the cardiovascular system to recover from the stress of maintaining blood flow during daily activities, which is very important for long-term health. “
Despite the positive results, it is unlikely that a mattress with an active heating and cooling system will reach the mass market because of the high energy requirements and because it is significantly more expensive to manufacture.
Journal of Sleep Research, doi: 10.1111/jsr.13662