Philips Lighting, a global leader in lighting, announced its third generation Philips HealWell lighting system that is specifically developed to support sleep and improve patients’ and staff’s experience, comfort and satisfaction in healthcare facilities. The system uses innovative dynamic lighting recipes that support patients’ biorhythms during the day with a proven positive effect on sleep cycles and increased comfort and satisfaction for both patients and staff.

Philips Healwell intelligent hospital lighting during dawn mode. (All photos courtesy of Philips Lighting)

Scientific research has shown that high levels of light during the day help to regulate the human biological clock and the sleep-wake rhythm.^{1 2 3} By mimicking natural daylight patterns in hospitals, where patients are indoors all day, Philips HealWell automatically manages a rhythm of dynamic daylight to support the biological clock of patients. It also allows patients and staff to control individual settings for extra comfort and atmosphere creation. For staff, high levels of functional light creates a better working environment for tending to patients and performing tasks.

Philips HealWell generation 3 is fully LED-based and uses Philips Tunable White SmartBalance luminaires and Philips Color Kinetics Color Cove lighting. Philips HealWell can be installed as a standalone system or as part of an overall hospital campus networked lighting system. It is controllable by a Philips Dynalite management system, which can include energy monitoring and reporting and eventually be used to support integration into building management systems or other subsystems in healthcare facilities. 

Philips Healwell intelligent hospital lighting during day mode.

Better sleep – the great healer

The technology was tested in a clinical trial and a joint field study with the cardiology department of the Maastricht University Medical Center, in the Netherlands, measuring how patient room lighting affects sleep patterns, appraisal and mood across hospitalization. The results, published in The Journal of Sleep Research in November 2016 , verify the benefits on sleep and satisfaction when using the Philips HealWell lighting system. After five days of hospitalization, sleep duration increased by nearly half an hour as compared to standardly lit rooms.   

“At Philips Lighting we see human-centric lighting, such as Philips HealWell, as an excellent opportunity to provide value to our customers that takes into account the right combination of functional, emotional and circadian lighting, tailored to the needs of the users,” said Dr. Luc Schlangen, Principal Scientist at Philips Lighting. “It is becoming increasingly important for healthcare institutes to create a healing environment in order to make patients’ stay more enjoyable and to promote their recovery.” 

Philips HealWell generation 3 is commercially available beginning of 2017. 

¹ Riemersma-van der Lek, R., et al., Effect of Bright Light and Melatonin on Cognitive and Noncognitive Function in Elderly Residents of Group Care Facilities: A Randomized Controlled Trial. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 2008. 299(22): p. 2642-2655.

² White, M.D., S. Ancoli-Israel, and R.R. Wilson, Senior living environments: evidence-based lighting design strategies. HERD, 2013. 7(1): p. 60-78.

³ Boubekri, M., et al., Impact of windows and daylight exposure on overall health and sleep quality of office workers: a case-control pilot study. J. Clin. Sleep Med, 2014. 10(6): p. 603-611.