The Dreem headband is a wearable well-known for its ability to accurately monitor sleep. In fact, results from a clinical trial conducted by French researchers were recently published in a peer-review study asserting that the Dreem device is as accurate as traditional polysomnography (PSG) measurements used in sleep centers. PSGs are cumbersome and require the connection of sensors to monitor eye and chest movement throughout the night, in addition to standard physiological signs such as respiration and heart rate. The validation of a simple headband such as Dreem increases its potential for further medical applications as well as at-home use.
However, it would appear that Dreem is already looking beyond just sleep monitoring. Last week, the company was issued a patent for a device that could actually improve the quality of one's sleep. The claims teach an acoustic transducer that emits signals into the inner ear in order to stimulate slow brain waves, which have been associated with biological processes such as cell regeneration that occur during sleep. The signals are produced and adjusted through a feedback loop utilizing Dreem's already-proven sleep monitoring data. So far, Dreem has focused on improving sleep through behavioral techniques based on robust data analysis; however, the company has been steadily building a patent portfolio since 2015 that indicates it is looking to move into biological mechanisms for a more direct, and potentially more effective, approach. You can view the rest of Dreem's published patent documents and more on the Magic Number® Patent Radian®.
