ACTILLUME -- A MONITOR FOR ACTIVITY AND LIGHT EXPOSURE

THE GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO CREATE A DEVICE, CALLED THE ACTILLUME, THAT CAN MONITOR ON A CONTINUOUS, LONG-TERM BASISTHE MOTOR ACTIVITY OF A PATIENT CONCURRENTLY WITH THE LIGHT EXPOSURE OF THE PATIENT. THE IMPORTANCE OF LIGHT EXPOSURE IN AFFECTIVE AND CERTAIN SLEEP DISORDERS (DELAYED SLEEP-PHASE SYNDROME) MAKES CLEAR THE VALUE OF ILLUMINATION MONITORING FOR BOTH PSYCHIATRIC RESEARCH AND TREATMENT EVALUATION. IN THIS PROJECT, IT IS PLANNED TO FURTHER DEVELOP AND TEST ACOMBINED ACTIVITY AND ILLUMINATION MONITOR THAT CAN BE WORN ON THE WRIST. THE MINIATURE DESIGN ALLOWS THE PATIENT TO WEAR THIS DEVICE FOR SEVERAL DAYS AND NIGHTS TO COLLECT DATAIN AFFECTED DISORDERS, SUCH AS JET LAG OR INSOMNIA DUE TO SHIFT WORK. THE PROJECT WILL DEVELOP A CLINICAL WORKING UNIT BASED ON PRELIMINARY BREADBOARD DESIGN, AND WILL TEST AND PACKAGE THEUNIT WITH A MICROPROCESSOR AND PROGRAMS THAT WILL ENABLE THEOPERATION OF THE ACTILLUME IN BUSY CLINICAL SETTINGS. THE WORK PROGRAM ENTAILS INTERNAL SOFTWARE AND INTERFACE BOARDS WITHIN A COMPUTER FRAME FOR INITALIZING AND DUMPING DATA. OTHER SOFTWARE PROGRAMS WILL BE DEVELOPED TO DISPLAY AND ANALYZE THE DATA AND TO PROVIDE THE INFORMATION IN A FORMAT FOR CLINICAL USE. IN PHASE II, IT IS PLANNED TO DEVELOP SOFTWARE AND VALIDATE THE RELATIONSHIP OF LIGHT EXPOSURE AND ACTIVITY AS A CLINICAL MANAGEMENT TOOL IN A LARGE PATIENT SAMPLE.