Sleep technology developed in South Australia has caught the eye of US researchers striving to give cancer patients much-needed relief from insomnia.

Re-Timer glasses, invented and built at Flinders University’s Tonsley facility, are at the forefront of research at New York’s University of Buffalo in a bid to solve insomnia among lung cancer patients.

Re-Timer glasses shine light into the eyes to reset a person’s internal body clock and potentially counter the side-effects of drug therapies such as sleeplessness.

US researchers are assessing whether the device can reset sleep patterns in cancer patients for whom sleep is critical to their treatment and recovery.

Re-Timer Pty Ltd, formed as a Flinders University spinout company in 2010, exports more than 80% of its glasses to a range of customers – from executives looking for relief from jetlag, to hip hop and aerial skiers, and even the US Department of Defence.

The US sales are supporting the opening of a Re-Timer sales office in North America.

Re-Timer managing director Ben Olsen said the latest research application would support the opening of a US sales and distribution outlet to expand the company’s global reach which includes outlets in Australia, China, Taiwan and the Netherlands.

“We’re now seeing research organisations from all over the world using Re-Timer in their research projects, with 85% of our devices now exported to our growing world markets from our base in South Australia,” Mr Olsen said.

“We are opening an office in the USA by the end of the year which will help expand our global footprint further – and that’s an exciting prospect for a South Australian business.”

Flinders University sleep psychologist Professor Leon Lack says the Re-Timers have now been used in a range of research projects, measuring the glasses’ ability to correct mis-timing in a person’s body clock to allow sleep at the desired time.

“After 25 years in the pipeline, this SA-made light therapy device is being sold around the world, for jetlag, professional people and researchers, who are finding Re-Timers help adjust the body’s circadian rhythm or 24-hour sleep-wake cycle,” Professor Lack says.

The US research is examining if the light therapy treatment can reset participants’ sleep cycle, with better sleep able to provide relief from pain, breathlessness and the side-effects of chemotherapy treatment,

“Sleep is also important for patients with cancer because it is critical for immune system functioning, learning and memory, and better quality of life,” says research leader, Associate Professor Grace Dean, a sleep researcher from the New York State University.

“Using the Re-Timer glasses that shine light into the wearer’s eyes, the research is examining if the rays can trigger neurotransmitters in the brain and reset participants’ sleep cycles.”

The US researchers estimate between 50%-80% of people diagnosed with lung cancer patients experience severe insomnia that may persist for an average of eight years after the initial diagnosis.

Nearly 60 million Americans, or about one in five people, are affected by insomnia each year, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Re-Timer glasses provided an ultraviolet-free green light which helps promote sleep naturally by resetting an individual’s circadian rhythm or ‘body clock’ for the person to promote the ideal 7-8 hours sleep a night.

For more information go to www.re-timer.com or YouTube