Interface for a system and method for evaluating task effectiveness based on sleep pattern

• US 20030018242A1
• Filed: 08/13/2002
• Published: 01/23/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 07/06/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sleep Performance, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Science Applications International Corporation
• Inventors: Hursh, Steven Rawlings, Elsmore, Timothy, Eddy, Douglas
• Granted Patent: US 7,118,530 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/300
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/16 Devices for psychotechnics using teaching or educational appliances G09B1/00 - G09B7/00; Testing reaction times ; Devices for evaluating the psychological state
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4809 Sleep detection, i.e. determining whether a subject is asleep or not
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4812 Detecting sleep stages or cycles
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 15/00 ICT specially adapted for medical reports, e.g. generation or transmission thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/30 relating to physical therapies or activities, e.g. physiotherapy, acupressure or exercising
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/50 for simulation or modelling of medical disorders
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/70 for mining of medical data, e.g. analysing previous cases of other patients
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 128/92 Computer assisted medical diagnostics

Abstract

An interface for a system and method for evaluating the effectiveness of a person to perform a task based on his/her preceding or predicted sleep pattern is provided. The interface allows a user to use actual sleep data or predicted sleep data to produce predictions of the task effectiveness of a person to perform a particular task. The predictions may be in tabular, graphical, or tabular and graphical format. The interface may also represent the effectiveness of a user based on the actual or predicted sleep data in conjunction with an actual or predicted work schedule or pattern. The results can be correlated to sunlight in the user'"'"'s location, and can also account for changes in the users location (transmeridian shifts), sunlight during the user'"'"'s sleep cycle (shift work), and other schedule modifying events.

Claims

1. In a computer system having a graphical user interface including a display and a user interface selection device, a method of evaluating the effectiveness of a person to perform a task based on a sleep pattern using the interface, comprising the steps of:

(i) receiving sleep pattern data for an individual;

(ii) displaying a schedule based on the sleep schedule data; and

(iii) calculating and displaying a measure of task performance, wherein the measure is based at least in part on the received sleep pattern data.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising steps of:

(iv) receiving work schedule data for the individual; and

(v) displaying the measure of task performance in combination with the work schedule.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein step (iv) comprises reading work schedule data from a file.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein step (i) comprises reading sleep pattern data from a file.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein step (ii) comprises displaying the schedule in graphical format.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein step (ii) comprises displaying the schedule in tabular format.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising steps of:

(iv) entering a parameter affecting the displayed schedule; and

(v) displaying a second schedule for the individual, wherein the second schedule includes a recalculated measure of task performance responsive to the entered parameter.

8. The method of claim 7, comprising the further step of simultaneously displaying the two schedules.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein step (iv) comprises entering event information indicating the individual has traveled among time zones.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein step (iv) comprises entering event information indicating the individual has been administered a fatigue intervention.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein step (iv) comprises entering event information corresponding to a critical task event.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein step (iv) comprises entering event information corresponding to a travel waypoint.

13. The method of claim 7, wherein step (iv) comprises modifying an existing parameter.

14. The method of claim 7, wherein step (iv) comprises editing a sleep and work interval.

15. The method of claim 5, wherein step (iii) comprises displaying an effectiveness measure across the schedule.

16. The method of claim 5, wherein step (iii) comprises displaying a sleep reservoir balance across said schedule.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein step (iv) comprises modifying a schedule parameter selected from the set of a 24 hour rhythm phase offset, a 12 rhythm phase offset, a relative amplitude of said 12 hour phase offset, a sleep propensity mesor, a sleep propensity amplitude, a maximum sleep accumulation per minute value, a performance rhythm amplitude as a fixed or variable percentage, a sleep reservoir capacity, a feedback amplitude, a sleep inertia constant, a maximum inertia following awakening, a performance use rate, and a relative acrophase.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein step (iii) comprises the steps of:

(a) modeling circadian oscillators for the individual;

(b) calculating the amount of effective sleep in a sleep reservoir for the individual based on the individual'"'"'s sleep and activity pattern; and

(c) calculating the measure of task performance based on the oscillators and the sleep reservoir.

19. The method of claim 5, further comprising the step of displaying a circadian phase across the schedule.

20. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of storing the entered parameter to a file.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising the step of storing schedule information, event information, and parameter information to the file.

22. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of storing the measure of task performance to a file.

23. The method of claim 2, wherein step (iv) comprises receiving work schedule data as input from a user of the computer system.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein step (i) comprises receiving sleep pattern data as input from a user of the computer system.

26. The computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein the computer readable instructions, when executed, further cause the computer system to perform steps comprising:

(iv) receiving work schedule data for the individual; and

(v) displaying the measure of task performance in combination with the work schedule.

27. The computer readable medium of claim 26, wherein step (iv) comprises reading work schedule data from a file.

28. The computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein step (i) comprises reading sleep pattern data from a file.

29. The computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein step (ii) comprises displaying the schedule in graphical format.

30. The computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein step (ii) comprises displaying the schedule in tabular format.

31. The computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein the computer readable instructions further cause a computer system to perform method steps comprising:

(iv) entering a parameter affecting the displayed schedule; and

(v) displaying a second schedule for the individual, wherein the second schedule includes a recalculated measure of task performance responsive to the entered parameter.

32. The computer readable medium of claim 31, wherein the computer readable instructions further cause a computer system to perform the method step comprising simultaneously displaying the two schedules.

33. The computer readable medium of claim 31, wherein step (iv) comprises entering event information indicating the individual has traveled among time zones.

34. The computer readable medium of claim 31, wherein step (iv) comprises entering event information indicating the individual has been administered a fatigue intervention.

35. The computer readable medium of claim 31, wherein step (iv) comprises entering event information corresponding to a critical task event.

36. The computer readable medium of claim 31, wherein step (iv) comprises entering event information corresponding to a travel waypoint.

37. The computer readable medium of claim 31, wherein step (iv) comprises modifying an existing parameter.

38. The computer readable medium of claim 31, wherein step (iv) comprises editing a sleep and work interval.

39. The computer readable medium of claim 29, wherein step (iii) comprises displaying an effectiveness measure across the schedule.

40. The computer readable medium of claim 29, wherein step (iii) comprises displaying a sleep reservoir balance across said schedule.

41. The computer readable medium of claim 37, wherein step (iv) comprises modifying a schedule parameter selected from the set of a 24 hour rhythm phase offset, a 12 rhythm phase offset, a relative amplitude of said 12 hour phase offset, a sleep propensity mesor, a sleep propensity amplitude, a maximum sleep accumulation per minute value, a performance rhythm amplitude as a fixed or variable percentage, a sleep reservoir capacity, a feedback amplitude, a sleep inertia constant, a maximum inertia following awakening, a performance use rate, and a relative acrophase.

42. The computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein step (iii) comprises:

(a) modeling circadian oscillators for the individual;

(b) calculating the amount of effective sleep in a sleep reservoir for the individual based on the individual'"'"'s sleep and activity pattern; and

(c) calculating the measure of task performance based on the oscillators and the sleep reservoir.

43. The computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein step (ii) comprises displaying a circadian phase across the schedule.

25. A computer readable medium storing computer readable instructions that, when executed by a computer system, perform a method of evaluating the effectiveness of a person to perform a task based on a sleep pattern using the interface, comprising the steps of:

(i) receiving sleep pattern data for an individual;

(ii) displaying a schedule based on the sleep schedule data; and

(iii) calculating and displaying a measure of task performance, wherein the measure is based at least in part on the received sleep pattern data.