Harvard Selects Lo-LIGHT Lamps for NASA Study
Lo-LIGHT Lamps used in NSBRI* Study
In a NSBRI study, Harvard University selected Lo-LIGHT lamps to evaluate lighting interventions to alleviate the negative effects of sleep disturbance in astronauts. Collaborating with the European Space Agency at the Russian Institute for Biomedical Problems, Lo-LIGHT lamps were selected over other types of light sources to overcome the problems people encounter working the night shift.
* NSBRI - National Space Biomedical Research Institute
A lighting intervention study led by the Department of Sleep Medicine at Harvard University compared the effects of different wavelengths of light on performance, alertness, and mood during the night shift. Crew members and mission control personnel participated.
The study, An Operational Evaluation of a Photic Countermeasure to Improve Alertness, Performance, and Mood During Night-Shift Work, evaluated the effectiveness of Lo-LIGHT lamps using the GreenLIGHT technology for improving alertness and performance during simulated space travel.
Validating the GreenLIGHT Technology
Careful examination of human sensitivity to visible light wavelengths led the Harvard researchers to conclude that "new information about the peak sensitivity of the human circadian system, determining that the most efficacious specialized light source should have a peak near 500nm (as opposed to ~470nm as the lamps produced by Philips Lighting, Eindhoven, Netherlands, as originally proposed), and therefore identifying such a new specialized light source for our studies; retrofitting our laboratory with specialized lamps (manufactured by Sunnex Biotechnologies, Winnipeg, MB, Canada) with a peak sensitivity near 500nm."
Improving Performance of Night Shift Workers
Low-intensity GreenLIGHT technology can also be used by night shift workers and others who need to regulate their biological clocks. As Harvard stated in the NASA Taskbook:
"We will be implementing and testing a new polychromatic fluorescent lamp with a peak spectral sensitivity of ~500nm.This is near the peak sensitivity of the human circadian system, and thus should be the most efficacious polychromatic lamp for shifting the timing of the human biological clock. In addition to benefits for NASA flight personnel, this technology will also have application to shiftworkers, to jet travelers, and to any personnel who need to shift the timing of their biological rhythm." See NASA Taskbook on Harvard study using "Lo-LIGHT lamps with GreenLIGHT technology.
Lo-LIGHT lamps can be adapted safely and comfortably into almost any work environment. Potential users include first responders, hospital staff, air traffic controllers, power plant operators, as well as people in the transportation industry and on military operations.
MORE on the GreenLIGHT System in the workplace for night shift counter-fatigue programs.
