Improvement tool for wake after sleep onset

Abstract

To provide an improvement tool for wake after sleep onset by which wake after sleep onset can be improved easily with less burden even for such a healthy person as to be aware of wake after sleep onset.SOLUTION: An improvement tool for wake after sleep onset 1 includes a base material 2 having a length and a width shorter than the length, and an adhesive layer 3 disposed on a rear surface of the base material 2. The improvement tool is used by being attached to a mouth during sleep in order to improve wake after sleep onset.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an awakening improvement device that is used by being attached to a user's mouth during sleep in order to improve awakening during sleep.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, sleep disorders have become a social issue, and countermeasures against sleep disorders are demanded. Awakening during sleep is a sleep disorder in which a person wakes up several times during sleep and then continues to be unable to fall asleep. As a countermeasure against awakening during sleep, there is continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy (see, for example, Patent Document 1). CPAP is a treatment method for sleep apnea syndrome. By continuously sending air with an appropriate pressure to the airway through a mask worn on the nose during sleep, it is a treatment method for preventing airway obstruction and suppressing apnea and hypopnea. CPAP is expected to improve the quality of sleep, such as reducing awakening during sleep, by improving breathing troubles during sleep due to apnea and hypopnea.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, the device used in CPAP is large-scale, and diagnosis and guidance by a doctor are required for treatment with CPAP. Therefore, there is a problem that it cannot be easily used by those with mild breathing troubles during sleep, that is, healthy people who are somewhat aware of awakening during sleep.

[0005] The present disclosure has been made to solve the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a tool for improving fragmented awakening that can easily improve fragmented awakening with a small burden even for some healthy individuals who are aware of fragmented awakening.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] As a result of intensive research to solve the above problems, the inventors of the present application have found that when maintaining the mouth in a closed state so as not to open during sleep to suppress mouth breathing and induce nasal breathing, the sleep latency is shortened and a deep sleep stage is reached early after falling asleep, and furthermore, by increasing the time of the deep sleep stage throughout the total sleep time, the number of fragmented awakenings during sleep is reduced and fragmented awakening is improved.

[0007] The tool for improving fragmented awakening of the present disclosure has been completed based on the above findings, and the present disclosure includes, as the subject matter, the tool for improving fragmented awakening described in Item 1 below.

[0008] Item 1. A base material having a length and a width shorter than the length, and an adhesive layer provided on the back surface of the base material, A tool for improving fragmented awakening, which is used by being attached to the mouth during sleep to improve fragmented awakening.

[0009] Further, the tool for improving fragmented awakening of the present disclosure includes, as a preferred embodiment of the tool for improving fragmented awakening described in Item 1 above, the tool for improving fragmented awakening described in Item 2 below.

[0010] Item 2. The tool for improving fragmented awakening according to Item 1, wherein the adhesive is a silicone-based adhesive.

[0011] Further, the tool for improving fragmented awakening of the present disclosure includes, as a preferred embodiment of the tool for improving fragmented awakening described in Item 1 or Item 2 above, the tool for improving fragmented awakening described in Item 3 below.

[0012] Item 3. The tool for improving fragmented awakening according to Item 1 or 2, wherein side edges on both sides in the width direction extend along the length direction and have a wavy shape.

Effects of the Invention

[0013] According to the middle-of-the-night awakening improvement device of the present disclosure, even for healthy individuals with a certain degree of awareness of middle-of-the-night awakenings, the middle-of-the-night awakenings can be improved in an easy and low-burden way.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0014]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

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Figure 6

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0015] The middle-of-the-night awakening improvement device of the present disclosure is used by being attached to the mouth at bedtime, and by maintaining the closed state so as not to open the mouth, it suppresses mouth breathing during sleep and promotes nasal breathing, thereby improving middle-of-the-night awakenings during sleep.

[0016] In the present disclosure, in the device for improving fragmented awakening, the direction that cuts across the mouth (extending from the upper lip to the lower lip) when attached to the mouth is defined as the "longitudinal direction", the direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction is defined as the "lateral direction", the size in the longitudinal direction is defined as the "length", and the size in the lateral direction is defined as the "width". Further, in the present disclosure, in the device for improving fragmented awakening, the surface on the side attached to the mouth (the side of the adhesive layer 3) is defined as the "back surface", and the opposite side is defined as the "front surface".

[0017] Hereinafter, embodiments of the device for improving fragmented awakening of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0018] As shown in FIG. 1, a device 1 for improving fragmented awakening according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a base material 2 and an adhesive layer 3 provided on the back surface of the base material 2 by applying an adhesive. The entire back surface of the device 1 for improving fragmented awakening is made into an adhesive surface by the adhesive layer 3. A release film is attached to cover the adhesive layer 3 before use on the back surface of the device 1 for improving fragmented awakening. When in use, the device 1 for improving fragmented awakening is attached to the mouth so as to straddle the upper lip and the lower lip in the longitudinal direction as shown in FIG. 2.

[0019] The base material 2 is formed of a sheet material having air permeability and flexibility, such as non-woven fabric, woven fabric, paper such as Japanese paper, and a resin sheet having a large number of pores. The above-mentioned sheet material may be used alone to form the base material 2, or two or more kinds may be combined to form the base material 2.

[0020] The base material 2 has a vertically long shape in which the length, which is the size in the longitudinal direction, is longer than the width, which is the size in the lateral direction. The vertically long shape is not particularly limited, and can be various shapes such as a rectangular shape, a rectangular shape with rounded corners, an elliptical shape, a bullet shape, and a gourd shape.

[0021] In the base material 2, the left and right side edges 20 and 21 that extend along the longitudinal direction and are on both sides in the transverse direction preferably exhibit a wavy shape that undulates in and out. By having the left and right side edges 20 and 21 of the base material 2 exhibit a corrugated shape, the intermediate awakening improvement device 1 can be made difficult to peel off from the mouth during sleep. Therefore, the intermediate awakening improvement device 1 can keep the mouth closed for a long time during sleep, effectively suppress mouth breathing during sleep, and induce nasal breathing.

[0022] Note that the base material 2 may or may not be line-symmetric about a center line that extends along the longitudinal direction and passes through the center in the transverse direction. Also, the base material 2 may or may not be line-symmetric about a center line that extends along the transverse direction and passes through the center in the longitudinal direction.

[0023] The length of the base material 2 is not particularly limited as long as it is large enough to reach from the upper lip to the lower lip for attaching the intermediate awakening improvement device 1 to the mouth. The length of the base material 2 is, for example, 30 mm or more and 60 mm or less, preferably 35 mm or more and 45 mm or less. The width of the base material 2 is not particularly limited as long as it can sufficiently secure the contact area with the mouth when the intermediate awakening improvement device 1 is attached to the mouth and is not easily peeled off from the mouth. The width of the base material 2 is, for example, 15 mm or more and 40 mm or less, preferably 20 mm or more and 30 mm or less. The thickness of the base material 2 is not particularly limited as long as it can sufficiently ensure the strength of the intermediate awakening improvement device 1. The thickness of the base material 2 is, for example, 0.1 mm or more and 0.8 mm or less, preferably 0.2 mm or more and 0.4 mm or less.

[0024] As the adhesive for forming the adhesive layer 3, for example, adhesives generally called silicone-based adhesives, urethane-based adhesives, acrylic-based adhesives, and rubber-based adhesives can be used. Acrylic-based adhesives have many materials with a track record as tape materials for the purpose of attaching to the skin, and from the perspective that relatively inexpensive and highly safe ones can be selected from a wide range of options, they can be preferably used for the adhesive layer 3. Silicone-based adhesives can be preferably used for the adhesive layer 3 from the perspective that when peeling off after attaching to the skin, the adhesive stretches and the skin is not easily pulled, so it does not hurt and is gentle on the skin.

[0025] By attaching the intermediate awakening improvement device 1 of the present embodiment described above to the mouth before going to sleep and sleeping, it is possible to suppress the mouth from opening during sleep, so that the breathing during sleep can be induced to nasal breathing instead of mouth breathing. When nasal breathing is induced during sleep, the sleep latency is shortened and a deep sleep stage is reached early after falling asleep, and furthermore, the time of the deep sleep stage in the entire sleep time increases. Therefore, according to the intermediate awakening improvement device 1 of the present embodiment, the number of intermediate awakenings during sleep is reduced, and the intermediate awakenings can be improved.

[0026] Also, in the intermediate awakening improvement device 1 of the present embodiment, the adhesive for attaching the intermediate awakening improvement device 1 to the mouth is a silicone-based adhesive. Therefore, when peeling the intermediate awakening improvement device 1 from the mouth, the adhesive stretches and the skin is hardly pulled. Therefore, according to the intermediate awakening improvement device 1 of the present embodiment, it does not hurt when peeling from the mouth, and an intermediate awakening improvement device 1 that is gentle to the skin can be provided.

[0027] Also, in the intermediate awakening improvement device 1 of the present embodiment, the left and right side edges 20, 21 of the base material 2 have a wave shape. Therefore, it becomes difficult for the intermediate awakening improvement device 1 to peel off from the mouth during sleep, so that the intermediate awakening improvement device 1 can keep the mouth closed for a long time during sleep. Therefore, according to the intermediate awakening improvement device 1 of the present embodiment, mouth breathing during sleep can be effectively suppressed and nasal breathing can be induced.

[0028] As described above, an embodiment of the intermediate awakening improvement device of the present disclosure has been described. However, the intermediate awakening improvement device of the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure.

Example

[0029] Hereinafter, the effects of the intermediate awakening improvement device of the present disclosure will be described based on examples. Note that the intermediate awakening improvement device of the present disclosure is not limited to the following examples.

[0030] The mid-sleep arousal improvement device used in the examples had the shape shown in Fig. 1, with a size of 42.4 mm in length, 14.8 mm (between the constrictions on both sides) to 17.8 mm (between the bulges on both sides) in width, and 0.32 mm in thickness. A polyester non-woven fabric was used for the base material, and a silicone-based adhesive was used for the adhesive. The subjects were asked to stay in a private room of a capsule hotel for consecutive nights, and sleep data of each subject was obtained on the day when the mid-sleep arousal improvement device of the example was worn to bed and the day when it was not worn to bed. The subjects were healthy men and women in their 20s to 60s who were aware that they breathed through their mouths during sleep (hereinafter referred to as "subjects"). In the private room of the capsule hotel, an infrared camera, a sound-collecting microphone, and a body movement sensor were installed as devices for obtaining the sleep data of the subjects. Based on the data obtained by each device, (1) the ratio of each sleep stage, (2) the sleep latency, and (3) the number of mid-sleep arousals during sleep were measured.

[0031] First, Fig. 3 is a graph showing the ratio of the average time of each sleep stage (REM sleep and non-REM sleep N1 to N3) during the sleep time of all the subjects. From Fig. 3, it was confirmed that by using the mid-sleep arousal improvement device, the ratios of REM sleep and non-REM sleep in stage N1 decreased significantly, and the ratio of non-REM sleep in stage N2 increased significantly. No significant difference was observed in the ratio of non-REM sleep in stage N3.

[0032] Next, Fig. 4(A) is a graph showing the average time of sleep latency of all the subjects, and Fig. 4(B) is a graph showing the average number of mid-sleep arousals per hour of all the subjects. From Fig. 4(A), it was confirmed that the sleep latency was shortened by using the mid-sleep arousal improvement device. Also, from Fig. 4(B), it was confirmed that the number of mid-sleep arousals decreased significantly by using the mid-sleep arousal improvement device.

[0033] Here, FIG. 5 is a graph showing the average sleep latency (FIG. 5(A)) and the average number of mid-sleep awakenings per hour (FIG. 5(B)) for 20 subjects with a shortened time of non-REM sleep in stage N1 during the first cycle decline immediately after falling asleep. From FIG. 5, it was confirmed that for 20 subjects with a shortened time of non-REM sleep in stage N1 during the first cycle decline immediately after falling asleep, the sleep latency was significantly shortened and the number of mid-sleep awakenings was significantly reduced by using the mid-sleep awakening improvement device.

[0034] According to the measurement data from FIG. 3 to FIG. 5, it can be seen that the time of non-REM sleep in stage N2, which is a deeper sleep stage than REM sleep and non-REM sleep in stage N1 throughout the total sleep time, increased, and the sleep latency after falling asleep was shortened to reach a deeper sleep stage earlier, which contributed to the improvement of mid-sleep awakenings.

[0035] Note that FIG. 6 is a graph showing the average number of mid-sleep awakenings per hour for 38 subjects divided into those whose snoring during sleep was improved (17 subjects) and those whose snoring during sleep was not improved (21 subjects) by using the mid-sleep awakening improvement device. The left side of FIG. 6 shows the data of subjects whose snoring during sleep was improved, and the right side of FIG. 6 shows the data of subjects whose snoring during sleep was not improved. Regarding snoring, the number of snoring times of 45 dB or more was measured based on the statistics that it is 45 dB or less to feel "quiet" in daily life and the average volume of snoring of adult men and women is 46.2 dB.

[0036] It has been conventionally reported that snoring is suppressed by suppressing the opening of the mouth during sleep by using the mid-sleep awakening improvement device and inducing nasal breathing instead of mouth breathing during sleep. Since it is also considered that mid-sleep awakenings are caused by snoring during sleep, FIG. 6 shows the result of confirming the correlation between the presence or absence of improvement in snoring and the presence or absence of improvement in mid-sleep awakenings.

[0037] From Figure 6, for 17 subjects whose snoring was improved by using the middle-of-the-night awakening improvement device, no significant difference was observed in the number of middle-of-the-night awakenings. On the other hand, for 21 subjects whose snoring was not improved by using the middle-of-the-night awakening improvement device, it was confirmed that the number of middle-of-the-night awakenings decreased significantly.

[0038] Therefore, it can be seen that the improvement of middle-of-the-night awakening is not due to the improvement of snoring, and there is no correlation between the presence or absence of snoring improvement and the presence or absence of middle-of-the-night awakening improvement.

[0039] From the above results, it can be seen that according to the middle-of-the-night awakening improvement device of the present disclosure, the middle-of-the-night awakening can be improved regardless of the improvement of snoring during sleep.

Explanation of Reference Signs

[0040] 1 Middle-of-the-night awakening improvement device 2 Base material 3 Adhesive layer 20, 21 Left and right side edges of the base material

Claims

1. A base material having a length and a width shorter than the length, and an adhesive layer provided on the back surface of the base material, An intermediate awakening improver that is used by being affixed to the mouth during sleep to improve intermediate awakening.

2. The intermediate awakening improver according to claim 1, wherein the adhesive is a silicone-based adhesive.

3. The intermediate awakening improver according to claim 1 or 2, wherein, in the base material, side edges on both sides in the width direction extend along the length direction and have a wavy shape.

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