Developing a mobile application for circadian wellness in cancer patients

ABSTRACT Circadiandailyrhythms play a significant role in the efficacy and tolerability of cancer treatments in both rodents and humansDisruption of circadian rhythms disturbs sleep and has been shown to result in poorer survivorship rates in cancer patientsFurthermoreevidence suggests that timing treatments and interventions with circadian considerations can improve outcomesWhile knowledge of internal time holds much potential for the treatment of diseasemeasuring circadian rhythms in the lab can be time consuming and expensiveOneandapos s typical behaviore gnormal wake and bed timescan provide a first order estimate of circadian statebut individual genetic variation and disruption of the circadian clock from irregular light exposure will throw off this estimateLight at night from screensa particularly important factor to consider in monitoring circadian rhythmsis now more common and disruptive than everWe have developed mobile applications for estimating circadian rhythms in a non invasive way using mathematical modelsThe apps track motion and activity and use these factors to predict both light and the userandapos s internal time in a way that accounts for disruptions to oneandapos snormalscheduleWe propose to develop a mobile app for cancer patients that recommends lighting interventions to correct disrupted circadian rhythms as well as the best times for drug consumption for optimal circadian effectWe furthermore propose to integrate this system into the home environments of patients to improve complianceThe proposed work will be directed toward adapting the math models and algorithms underlying our past work into a tool for cancer patientsThe outcome will be a prototype app that tracks patient circadian rhythms and suggests interventions to steer their circadian clocks back in sync with their environmentpromoting health and managing insomniaA Phase I SBIR grant would be used to develop the app and assess its potential in a limited usability trialA Phase II SBIR would extend the work by refining the app and testing it in a clinical trial PROJECT NARRATIVE In this Phase I SBIRwe propose to develop a mobile application that cancer patients can use to track and control their circadian rhythmsA disrupted circadian clock is linked to poor rates of survival in cancer patientsthe proposed app will monitor user circadian rhythms and propose lighting and lifestyle interventions to recover from disruption as quickly as possibleThe app will be able to interact with the home environment of the patient to improve ease of use and complianceThe app will also contain a framework to communicate research results and educational information about optimal timing to clinicians and patientsThe small business partnerArcascopewill be in charge of app development and prototype testing while the academic partner will lead the refinement and expansion of the mathematical model underlying the app to better fit the needs of cancer patientsTogetherwe seek to test if a circadian wellness app for cancer patients is viable and holds promise for improving survivorship rates and quality of life for patients in a non invasive way