LED Technology
Let human-centric lighting promote health and wellbeing
By Menno Schakel, technical marketing engineer, Nichia S
ometimes health and wellbeing extend past the realms of medicine and treatment, where factors such as the surrounding environment can have a highly positive effect on the recovery process. A case in point is light, where the latest human-centric lighting (HCL) solutions have the ability to improve comfort and regeneration in settings that include hospitals and recovery rooms, as well as retirement, care, and nursing homes. Beyond doctors and nurses, any facility manager involved in the design or planning of care projects also has a personal responsibility to patients or residents. They should ask themselves: is the environment conducive to healing and comfort? If not, adopting appropriate lighting solutions can have a huge influence on improving the situation. The introduction of natural light in all areas of hospitals and healthcare facilities can of course prove extremely challenging, which is why increasing numbers of these establishments are turning to HCL and its ability to replicate the precise dynamics of natural daylight. This biologically effective lighting can sustainably enhance mood and wellbeing. HCL’s melanopic lighting effect is akin to medicine for people who are unwell, or those simply in their old age. HCL supports the circadian rhythm, namely the physical, mental, and behavioural changes that follow a 24-hour cycle. These natural processes respond primarily to light and dark, prompting emotional sensation and, subsequently, the regeneration of patients. Circadian HCL lighting can activate elderly and dementia patients during the day and promote sleep at night. At the same time, optimal lighting conditions will facilitate the productive and attentive work of staff, helping to avoid mistakes that could prove extremely costly in more ways than one.
Circadian human-centric lighting CHCL: how does it work? The benefits of HCL are well documented. However, there is an important point to note. Tunable circadian lighting enabled by the
52 May 2023
Dynasolis LED lighting solution from Nichia provides much deeper interaction with human physiology than any current HCL solution. The primary reason? Spectrum tunability. Simulating the sun’s daily lighting cycle requires bright blue light with high melanopic output in the morning, when the sun is bright and the sky is blue. Morning daylight has a higher content of lower wavelength (cyan) light, which stimulates human cells. Specifically, the exposure of intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) to cyan light suppresses the production of melatonin, which affects the human wake/sleep cycle. Any effective solution for sectors such as healthcare must therefore offer the ability to tune both colour temperature and spectrum - the proportion of cyan within the light.
Daylight has a high correlated colour temperature (CCT) in the range of 5500- 5800K for a given time. Progressing through the afternoon, there is a gradual reduction in the colour temperature of daylight (lower melanopic output) until it reaches approximately 2700K at sunset, where warm yellows/reds take over. These low CCTs are predominantly beyond the sensitive wavelength range of ipRGCs.
Spectral light distribution
Although ostensibly different, there are certain commonalities between ipRGC stimulation
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and the CCT of natural light as spectral light distribution is ultimately what determines
these two characteristics. HCL solutions try to mimic daylight, which means that a
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