PH Heart Center uses light technology to speed up recovery of patients

A hospital room at the Philippine Heart Center. InterAksyon.com

MANILA, Philippines — The prime hospital for cardiovascular care in the Philippines is pioneering a unique lighting technology, which has not been implemented anywhere else in Asia, that aims to speed up recovery time of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patients.

The technology called HealWell supplied by electronics brand Philips and installed in the Philippine Heart Center (PHC) uses a host of lighting fixtures and equipment that provide an optimal amount of lighting to the ICU room, so that patients are able to sleep well at night.

According to Gabby Meekes, marketing director for hospital lighting at Philips, light plays a major role in the recovery of patients particularly those that are not used to being in a hospital environment.

“Light is important to be able to see things, so the right amount of light should be at the right activity at the right moment,” Meekes explained.

In the everyday routine of humans, Meekes said that daylight plays an important role in helping individuals rouse at day or sleep at night, because natural light aids in the production of certain hormones that induce sleep or keep humans awake.

“Cortisol, for example, is produced in the morning and makes us awake, alert, and able to perform well. This is boosted by the increase of the intensity of light throughout the day,” she said.

On the other hand, the sleep hormone melatonin is produced in the evening as the sun goes down in the West, which makes humans sleep well during the night.

This seesaw of hormones, according to the Philips executive, is what is often referred to as the “circadian rhythm,” and could often take a couple of days to be adjusted to a new environment.

The case is different, however, with hospital patients who are holed up in their respective confinement rooms, Meekes pointed out, because the physical make-up of their room makes them unable to receive natural light and, thus, alters their natural bodily rhythms.

Because of this, hospital patients are often unable to sleep at night, which affects their body’s recovery functions, and thus lengthening their hospital stay.

Healing light

The HealWell lighting system implemented in a single room in the PHC’s Medical ICU unit is composed of cove lighting, which provides ambient light and changes colors depending on the patient’s preference; ceiling light, which is a four-panel fixture that automatically imitates the effect of daylight throughout the day; and reading lights for patients that need a more focused lighting in their beds.

The ceiling light is the centerpiece of the technology, as it has the capability to automatically simulate the color and intensity of sunlight outside the room during specified times of the day.

This way, patients’ circadian rhythms are not disturbed, which could then lead to a faster recovery time.

“[But] this kind of light affects not only the sleeping and waking patterns of patients; it also affects their mood, concentration, alertness and their immune system,” Meekes pointed out.

“The way we look at it, the parameters that we could influence with light include sleep, anxiety, depression, delirium, and satisfaction, which are very important for patient well-being and recovery,” she added.

Philips is backing this up by citing a 2010 study that found patients usually have a shorter stay in the hospital because of the implementation of bright lights in patient rooms.

“When patients get more sunlight, they are less stressed, less anxious and less medication is used,” Meekes added.

First in Asia

The PHC, being a government-funded hospital, was only able to afford to install the HealWell lighting system to one of their ICU rooms, but PHC Asst. Director for Medical Services Dr. Gerardo Manzo said the investment is well worth the money they had to put out.

“The opportunity was too good to miss for us. We had been planning on increasing the capacity of our operating rooms and recovery rooms, and we have been trying to find ways to accommodate an increased need for spaces,” Manzo said.

The technology, first implemented at the Maastricth University Medical Center in the Netherlands, will hopefully address the common complaint that patients can’t get sleep at night, according to Dr. Manzo.

“We will monitor their length of stay. If patients can sleep better and recover faster, then they can be transferred to regular rooms in a shorter amount of time,” he added.

Dr. Manzo also stressed that the PHC is keen on observing the positive effects of the HealWell system on their ICU patients, and would even share their findings to the global medical community.

“PHC intends to study and document the effects of this new lighting system, and contribute to the world body of knowledge on the role of lighting in wellness and healing,” he said.