Project dates: 03/04/2017 - Ongoing
Sealy Australia are working with the QUT Biomechanics & Spine Research Group (BSRG) to discover the critical factors that affect a person’s spinal comfort when lying down and therefore the quality of their sleep. The BSRG were excited to announce this initial three-year partnership in 2017 and gratefully acknowledge the important on-going support of Sealy.
As part of the first study program from 2017-2020, young and healthy adult volunteers (aged 18-30 years) were assessed to determine how their body shape, alignment and perceived comfort changed when they lie in different positions on mattresses of varying stiffness. The study outcomes established a new understanding of the biomechanical elements that are important indicators of lying comfort.
The next arm of this collaborative work (2020-2023) sought healthy mature adult volunteers (aged 55-70 years) and also included professional sleep assessments during home mattress trials to understand the multi-factorial aspects of sleep biomechanics and sleep quality determinants.
The existing datasets will be extended in the next phase (2023-2025) to describe sleep biomechanics for people in middle adulthood (age 30-55), thus creating the most extensive and detailed multi-age dataset of its kind in the world. This will have a key translation into industry relevant outcomes to define human-based guidelines for which sleep surfaces should be designed.
In supporting these research projects, Sealy is drawing upon the world leading capabilities offered by the QUT BSRG team – we are a team of experts, bringing together engineers from Medical Engineering at QUT as well as specialist Spinal Orthopaedic Surgeons.
“The BSRG aims to apply our skills to real world scenarios. This joint research project provides an exciting avenue for discovery, giving us the opportunity to contribute to an international industry leader that has a mission to improve consumers’ health and well-being,” said Associate Professor Little.
Funding / Grants
- A collaborative research agreement with valuable research support provided by Sealy Asia-Pacific. (2017 - 2026)
Chief Investigators
Team
Partners
Sealy AustraliaPublications
- Izatt, Maree, Lees, Deborah, Mills, Susan, Grant, Caroline, Little, Paige (2019) Determining a reliably visible and inexpensive surface fiducial marker for use in MRI: a research study in a busy Australian Radiology Department. BMJ Open, 9 (8), pp.Article number: e0270201-10.
- Little, Paige, Rayward, Lionel, Pearcy, Mark, Izatt, Maree, Green, Daniel, Labrom, Robert, Askin, Geoffrey (2019) Predicting spinal profile using 3D non-contact surface scanning: Changes in surface topography as a predictor of internal spinal alignment. PLoS One, 14 (9), pp.Article number: e02224531-15.
- Little, J. Paige, Chapman, Erin, Parr, Adam, Moloney, Gregory, Bowler, Simon, Labrom, Robert D., Askin, Geoffrey N. (2021) Morphological changes in the respiratory system: An MRI investigation of differences between the supine and left lateral decubitus positions. Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering: Imaging and Visualization, 9 (6), pp.625-634.
- Little, J. Paige, Green, Daniel, Izatt, Maree T., Moloney, Gregory, Askin, Geoffrey N. (2022) Patient-Customised Theatre Mattress Supports for Spinal Surgery : A Pilot Study Presenting a Novel Engineering Virtual Design and Manufacturing Technique. Journal of Medical Devices, 16, pp.Article number: 025001.
- Rayward, Lionel, Pivonka, Peter, Pearcy, Mark, Kerr, Graham, Little, J Paige (2021) A subject-specific FEM to predict deep tissue mechanical stresses when lying: A preliminary study of sensitivity to substrate stiffness. International Symposium on Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering : and 5th Conference on Imaging and Visualization, (17th), p.18.
- Rayward, Lionel, Pearcy, Mark, Izatt, Maree, Green, Daniel, Labrom, Robert, Askin, Geoffrey, Little, J. Paige (2023) Predicting spinal column profile from surface topography via 3D non-contact surface scanning. PLoS ONE, 18 (3), pp.Article number: e0282634.
- Little, J Paige, Ho, Selina, Rayward, Lionel, Uhrle, Glenice, Green, Daniel, Pearcy, Mark (2022) Actigraphy vs Polysomnography measurements for sleep arousals. In Ahram, Tareq, Falcao, Christianne (Eds.), Human Factors and Wearable Technologies: Proceedings of the 13th AHFE International Conference on Human Factors and Wearable Technologies, Open Access Science in Human Factors Engineering and Human-Centered Computing, pp.36-44.
- Rayward, Lionel, Pearcy, Mark, Kerr, Graham, Pivonka, Peter, Little, J. Paige (2023) Engineering the perfect mattress: The influence of substrate mechanics on deep tissue stresses in supine. Clinical Biomechanics, 110, pp.Article number: 106130.
