Using music as a signal for biofeedback

Studies on the potential benefits of conveying biofeedback stimulus using a musical signal have appeared in recent years with the intent of harnessing the strong effects that music listening may have on subjects. While results are encouraging, the fundamental question has yet to be addressed, of how combined music and biofeedback compares to the already established use of either of these elements separately. This experiment, involving young adults (N = 24), compared the effectiveness at modulating participants' states of physiological arousal of each of the following conditions: A) listening to pre-recorded music, B) sonification biofeedback of the heart rate, and C) an algorithmically modulated musical feedback signal conveying the subject's heart rate. Our hypothesis was that each of the conditions (A), (B) and (C) would differ from the other two in the extent to which it enables participants to increase and decrease their state of physiological arousal, with (C) being more effective than (B), and both more than (A). Several physiological measures and qualitative responses were recorded and analyzed. Results show that using musical biofeedback allowed participants to modulate their state of physiological arousal at least equally well as sonification biofeedback, and much better than just listening to music, as reflected in their heart rate measurements, controlling for respiration-rate. Our findings indicate that the known effects of music in modulating arousal can therefore be beneficially harnessed when designing a biofeedback protocol

SnoozeBud [SIDS Prevention Device]

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS, is the sudden death of an infant younger than 1 year old. SIDS deaths usually occur during sleep, and they are the leading cause of death for infants 1 to 12 months old. Tragically, 1 out of every 2000 infants die of SIDS in Canada every year, and 3 die from it every week. Despite these numbers, little is known about the causes of SIDS. This makes the idea of SIDS quite frightening for parents of younger infants. It is believed, however, that infants who die from SIDS may have issues with the parts of their brain that control breathing and waking up during sleep. Usually, if the baby is not getting enough oxygen, the brain should trigger the baby to wake up and cry to get the oxygen they need. If the brain is not waking them when their breathing is restricted, their oxygen levels will fall to dangerous levels. Their breathing may be restricted by something as simple as a blanket over their mouth and nose. To prevent SIDS from occurring to infants, our product should be a necessity for new parents. At SleepSense, we hope to provide new parents with a solution to their concerns about the safety of their baby so the whole family can get a good night’s sleep. Our product, the SnoozeBud, will be a mattress addition that will track your baby’s breathing while they sleep to ensure that they maintain a healthy supply of oxygen. In the event that your baby stops breathing, the SnoozeBud will produce a strong vibration to attempt to wake them up and cause them to start breathing naturally again. If the vibration has occurred and the SnoozeBud doesn’t sense the baby’s breathing has returned to normal, an alarm will be set off in the parent’s room notifying them that their baby needs medical attention. &nbsp