{"691039":{"#nid":"691039","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New Soft Wearable Device Could Support At-Home Sleep Monitoring","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGood sleep is essential for brain health. During sleep and rest, the glymphatic system, the brain\u2019s waste clearing process, helps remove metabolic waste that accumulates during awake hours. This activity is linked to memory processing, cognitive function, and neural recovery. When sleep quality is poor, metabolic waste may accumulate, potentially disrupting cognitive function and memory formation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETraditional approaches to brain monitoring are often invasive, costly, and limited to clinical settings. New research from Georgia Tech points to a more accessible approach. A recent study published in \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.science.org\/doi\/10.1126\/sciadv.aed2056\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EScience Advances\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E shows that a soft, wireless wearable device could help enable home-based monitoring of physiological changes associated with sleep and brain health.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research team, led by \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/yeo\u0022\u003EW. Hong Yeo, Peterson Endowed Professor in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E and director of the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/sites.gatech.edu\/wish\u0022\u003EWearable Intelligent Systems and Healthcare Center\u003C\/a\u003E and the Korea KIAT-Georgia Tech Semiconductor Electronics Center, developed a wearable device that uses light-based sensing and wireless communication to support natural sleep monitoring at home. The device is designed to collect data outside of a clinical environment, allowing researchers to study sleep in a more comfortable and realistic setting.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis paper introduces the first soft, wireless, and non-invasive wearable near-infrared spectroscopy system capable of continuously monitoring brain water and glymphatic clearance dynamics in a natural home sleep environment, overcoming the restrictive, costly, and invasive limitations of traditional methods like MRI and polysomnography,\u201d Yeo said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe device works by emitting LED light at specific wavelengths. That light interacts with tissue and fluid near the brain, and reflected signals are detected by a photodetector placed on the skin. The collected data is then transmitted wirelessly via Bluetooth to a nearby device for analysis.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers note that the optical measurements can be influenced by factors beyond brain-related fluid changes. Breathing depth, slight shifts in forehead pressure, body position, motion, and temperature drift can all affect the signal.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor that reason, the team focused on changes and trends over time rather than claiming precise measurements of brain water content. They also emphasize that some of the measured signal may reflect effects from the skin, scalp, device pressure, or movement, in addition to changes associated with the brain.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy making sleep monitoring more comfortable and accessible, this soft wearable technology could help advance future studies of sleep, glymphatic activity, and brain health in real-world settings. The Wearable Intelligent Systems and Healthcare Center is supported by the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/matter-systems.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EInstitute for Matter and Systems at Georgia Tech\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1126\/sciadv.aed2056\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EDOI: 10.1126\/sciadv.aed2056\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new Georgia Tech study shows a wireless wearable device could enable home-based monitoring of physiological changes associated with sleep and brain health.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new Georgia Tech study shows a wireless wearable device could enable home-based monitoring of physiological changes associated with sleep and brain health."}],"uid":"35272","created_gmt":"2026-07-06 14:49:19","changed_gmt":"2026-07-08 19:14:19","author":"aneumeister3","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-07-06T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-07-06T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"680551":{"id":"680551","type":"image","title":"Soft-NIRS-device_georgia-tech_web.png","body":null,"created":"1783349483","gmt_created":"2026-07-06 14:51:23","changed":"1783349483","gmt_changed":"2026-07-06 14:51:23","alt":"Close-up of a flexible white wearable sensor device held between two fingers, showing its curved shape against a plain light-gray background.","file":{"fid":"264827","name":"Soft-NIRS-device_georgia-tech_web.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/07\/06\/Soft-NIRS-device_georgia-tech_web.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/07\/06\/Soft-NIRS-device_georgia-tech_web.png","mime":"image\/png","size":2276274,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/07\/06\/Soft-NIRS-device_georgia-tech_web.png?itok=trXe_Eus"}}},"media_ids":["680551"],"groups":[{"id":"660369","name":"Matter and Systems"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"187423","name":"go-bio"},{"id":"172970","name":"go-neuro"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"193652","name":"Matter and Systems"},{"id":"193656","name":"Neuro Next Initiative"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:amelia.neumeister@research.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EAmelia Neumeister\u003C\/a\u003E | Communications Manager\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Institute for Matter and Systems\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["amelia.neumeister@research.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}