Future Technology

Based on Provigil©, Provigil II stimulates the hypothalamus to promote alertness. Provigil's half life is 12-15 hours, but Provigil II’s is 1 hour. A lyposome- coated drug, Prosleep, can slip past the BBB to the hypothalamus, activating non-REM sleep. It stimulates the REM center in the pons so the user is refreshed after less sleep. Prosleep's half-life is also 1 hour.

The BCB is wrist band with a nanocomputer. Its nanowire circuits regulate the drugs, lights, and sound. A large screen shows the time and menus that allow one to program the start and end times for each sleep and wake mode. A small screen shows the current cycle. A tiny circle shows the time left before a mode change. This flashes green-blue when there is 1 hour left to reset before sleep. If a user has been awake for 36 hours, it flashes red and yellow, plays “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”, crashes symbols, and says “You need sleep.” After 2 louder warnings, white lights flash to show it will shut off in 15 minutes. The LEDs used are more efficient than today's. Under the display, a drug disk contains a 5 day supply of both drugs and dispenses them painlessly through biodegradable microneedles (nerves are deeper than the needles reach). The disks can be replaced, but the BCB does not reset so one cannot stay awake longer. The nanocomputer sends electrical signals to the needles to release the drugs according to their half lives. A lithium-ion polymer battery powers the band.

BCB by SST Technologies

Click the picture above to view a Flash animation on how the BCB works

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