The University of Tsukuba, located in Tsukuba City, Ibaraki Prefecture, has developed a special bus that can be tested for sleep disorders without going to a hospital, and is conducting demonstration experiments with the goal of practical use within a few years.
The bus was developed by the International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine at the University of Tsukuba in cooperation with an automobile manufacturer.
It is equipped with a device that can analyze the state of brain waves and daytime sleepiness at the time of falling asleep, and while sleeping in a bed in the car, we will investigate what kind of sleep disorder is by performing multiple tests during sleep for about 1 minutes at a time.
The power source is a fuel cell that can reduce sound and vibration so as not to disturb sleep during the examination.
Taking inspiration from buses that perform examinations and health checkups, we developed this system to allow people who do not have testing equipment at nearby hospitals to go to them for testing.
A demonstration experiment for practical use was conducted at a hospital in Kasama City last week, and it was confirmed that the brain waves during the patient's sleep were captured normally.
A man in his 20s who was tested said, "It felt the same as the test I had at the hospital, and there was no particular shaking, and I think it is convenient because the places where the test can be performed are limited."
Professor Takashi Kamibayashi of the International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine at the University of Tsukuba, who was involved in the development, said, "Buses can go close to your home even in areas where there are no facilities that can perform tests, and we hope to put it into practical use within a few years after repeated demonstration experiments."