A Version Of SleepFit Being Employed In Assessment Of Safe Driving Regulations For Truckers

Chalk up another one for NASA spinoff technology. A custom version of SleepFit, a mobile app developed by Pulsar Informatics, Inc., has been used in a U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) study to assess the impact of recently revised safe driving regulations for commercial truck drivers. The mobile app was developed with competitive funding from the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI). The Institute's Space Medical and Related Technologies Commercialization Assistance Program (SMARTCAP) supports highly meritorious and innovative projects, such as SleepFit, and is managed through the NSBRI Industry Forum.

"Pulsar Informatics and its collaborators at Washington State University performed one of the largest real-world studies ever conducted with commercial motor vehicle drivers," said Dr. Daniel Mollicone, CEO. The study included 106 participants and recorded 1,260 days of data and nearly 415,000 miles of driving.

"The DOT's use of a customized SleepFit is a concrete example of how research funding to improve the health and job performance of astronauts can often be applied to benefit people on Earth," said Dr. Dorit Donoviel, NSBRI deputy chief scientist and Industry Forum lead. "Astronauts must contend with irregular sleep patterns, as do workers in the transportation, energy and healthcare industries."

The customized SleepFit allowed drivers to complete brief alertness tests before and after driving. The study also assessed driving performance, such as lane and speed deviations. Drivers wore wrist activity monitors that measured sleep and wakefulness. The study confirms the science used to make the hours-of-service rule more effective at preventing crashes that involve sleepy or drowsy truck drivers. A report was released by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on Jan. 30.

FMI: www.smartcap.org