Developing a mobile application for circadian wellness in cancer patients

ABSTRACT
Circadiandailyrhythms play a significant role in the efficacy and tolerability of cancer
treatments in both rodents and humansDisruption of circadian rhythms disturbs sleep and has
been shown to result in poorer survivorship rates in cancer patientsFurthermoreevidence
suggests that timing treatments and interventions with circadian considerations can improve
outcomesWhile knowledge of internal time holds much potential for the treatment of diseasemeasuring
circadian rhythms in the lab can be time consuming and expensiveOneandapos s typical behaviore gnormal wake and bed timescan provide a first order estimate of circadian statebut individual
genetic variation and disruption of the circadian clock from irregular light exposure will throw off
this estimateLight at night from screensa particularly important factor to consider in
monitoring circadian rhythmsis now more common and disruptive than everWe have developed mobile applications for estimating circadian rhythms in a non invasive way
using mathematical modelsThe apps track motion and activity and use these factors to predict
both light and the userandapos s internal time in a way that accounts for disruptions to oneandapos snormalscheduleWe propose to develop a mobile app for cancer patients that recommends lighting
interventions to correct disrupted circadian rhythms as well as the best times for drug
consumption for optimal circadian effectWe furthermore propose to integrate this system into
the home environments of patients to improve complianceThe proposed work will be directed toward adapting the math models and algorithms underlying
our past work into a tool for cancer patientsThe outcome will be a prototype app that tracks
patient circadian rhythms and suggests interventions to steer their circadian clocks back in sync
with their environmentpromoting health and managing insomniaA Phase I SBIR grant would
be used to develop the app and assess its potential in a limited usability trialA Phase II SBIR
would extend the work by refining the app and testing it in a clinical trial PROJECT NARRATIVE
In this Phase I SBIRwe propose to develop a mobile application that cancer patients can use
to track and control their circadian rhythmsA disrupted circadian clock is linked to poor rates of
survival in cancer patientsthe proposed app will monitor user circadian rhythms and propose
lighting and lifestyle interventions to recover from disruption as quickly as possibleThe app will
be able to interact with the home environment of the patient to improve ease of use and
complianceThe app will also contain a framework to communicate research results and
educational information about optimal timing to clinicians and patientsThe small business
partnerArcascopewill be in charge of app development and prototype testing while the
academic partner will lead the refinement and expansion of the mathematical model underlying
the app to better fit the needs of cancer patientsTogetherwe seek to test if a circadian
wellness app for cancer patients is viable and holds promise for improving survivorship rates
and quality of life for patients in a non invasive way