A medical facility in Germany is undertaking trials on the effects of lighting on people suffering dementia.

In December 2015, Osram supplied the St. Augustinus hospital (AMZ) memory centre in Neuss, Germany with state-of-the-art lighting and control technology that is reported to create the best conditions for new research dedicated to biologically effective light.

With the aid of cutting-edge LED luminaires and control systems (i.e. e:cue and Lightify), Osram developed a lighting concept for the memory centre of the St. Augustinus hospital to enable the biological effects of light at the location. Put simply, the solution creates the right light at the right time, promotes well-being and health and also supports the circadian rhythm.

Professor Dr Ulrich Sprick, the chief physician at the AMZ day hospital in charge of the surveys for biologically effective light, says: “With Osram control technology we’re able to check whether we can generate the effects of daylight that we have outside here in the hospital as well. We’re aiming to carry out a total of three surveys.”

The first survey section is dedicated to the factor of wellness with an analysis of which light temperature is most pleasant for older people. In the second section it’s a matter of using the effects of light for synchronising the day-night rhythm. The third survey focuses on the factor of safety.

“For older people it’s highly important to clearly identify certain objects, and this is achieved by having a higher intensity of light. In fact it’s why we’re hoping to reduce the number of falls thanks to the corresponding light intensity, or even avoid them completely,” Ulrich says.

The Osram Lightify system was installed in the patient rooms. Lightify enables simple and user-friendly lighting solutions to be realised with modern LED luminaires and control components as well as with today’s common smart devices. One advantage of this system is that individual components wirelessly communicate with each other via ZigBee signals. When used in domestic surroundings, each Lightify user can program and manage light scenes using an app. It’s possible for example to individually modify colour temperature (e.g. warm white or cool white) according to individual wishes with the Tunable White function.

A human centric lighting solution was developed for the relaxation and dining area based on various LED luminaires – a daylight ceiling for example with Siteco Mira luminaires and Tunable White functionality enables activating or calming light scenes. The professional e:cue light management system also allows lighting to be individually controlled, e.g. using a time and calendar function for supporting the day-night rhythm.

The memory centre managers are hoping for concrete benefits for the treatment of dementia – one problematic symptom of dementia is often a shifted day-night rhythm due to the biological effect of light not being adequately processed, resulting in the need for higher light intensities. The aim is to re-stabilise the day-night rhythm, i.e. more light during the day should extend the daytime activated phase so that patients can sleep throughout the night.

Cutting-edge lighting installations from Osram Lighting Solutions provide the right light at the right time in the memory centre. This in turn creates the preconditions for analysing the biological effectiveness of light, and for contributing to essential treatment success. The showrooms of the memory centre demonstrate to relatives or other health providers what can be achieved in total with modern lighting technology. Professor Sprick is sure that corresponding solutions will also be used in the future in other sectors, such as depression stations or pain clinics.

Andreas Pickelein, Senior Project Manager at Osram, summarises: “Human centric lighting solutions from Osram basically focus on people and their needs for light. The advanced solutions installed by us in the memory centre support everyday activities, but also the circadian rhythm that we all need to achieve biological effectiveness. As a consequence, we’ve got solutions here that have positive benefits for the human organism and far exceed standard visual effects.”