If like me you are looking for that perfect night’s sleep, then this may be the answer. On a recent episode of Oprah aired here in Australia, Dr Michael Breus (a sleep expert) suggested a list of items that might make sleeping a little easier. One of those was the “Ambient Pillow” which by using nanotechnology increases oxygen levels in your body by up to 29 percent. It does this by taking the ambient energy in the air and pulling it in, so when you lie on the pillow, it helps give oxygen back to your skin.
Apparently, sleep deprivation in the US affects more than 70 million people who are spending $24 billion on products. With that amount of $’s being spent, I guess those people involved in the business of sleep certainly wouldn’t have any trouble dozing off!
- 10/09/2007 -
Peter Binks | 13-Sep-07 at 3:54 pm | Permalink
The Ambient Comfort Pillows in “A good night’s sleep” intrigued me, so I did some research. It turns out that the nanotechnology comes from Holofiber™, a fiber based on rare earth elements. The producers of Holofiber™ claim it is optically responsive to wavelengths of ambient light as well as energy produced by the body. The mechanism involves interaction with cells that include the mitochondria (the power source of the cell), and influences increased oxygen levels in body tissues. This more readily available oxygen can result in improved metabolism, an increase in energy as well as faster recovery from exertion.
Holofiber™ involves rare earths and so could - according to Deakin University researchers Dr John Rippon and Dr Peter Cookson - be based upon a Stokes or Anti Stokes shift in wavelengths, converting visible light into infra red, and the heating effect of this might increase oxygen levels by warming the body.
As John and Peter point out: sounds good, but how would it work in the dark? We remain a little sceptical.