YouMengSi Leverages 5.2g Wearable to Unlock the $57 Billion Sleep Health Market

Sleep is a long and steep track with deep snow.

Not only has it attracted top-tier investment institutions such as Hillhouse, Blackstone, KKR, PAG, and Bain to enter the market. From 2016 to 2020, the overall market size of China's sleep economy increased from 261.63 billion yuan to 377.86 billion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of approximately 9.6% (Data source: China Galaxy Securities Research Institute).

As China's population with sleep disorders surpassed 300 million in 2021, the sleep market has embraced even greater development opportunities. The market derived from sleep issues has expanded from sleep aid products such as bedding, eye masks, sleep sprays, and melatonin, to tech-driven sleep solutions including sleep apps, smart beds, and intelligent sleep devices.

Shenzhen EEGSmart Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "EEGSmart") was established in 2015 and is a solution provider for brain-computer interface technology and multi-modal bio-information sensing technology in China. EEGSmart focuses on sleep management,Through the interdisciplinary integration of brain-computer interface technology, multi-modal biosensing technology, artificial intelligence, big data, and more, EEGSmart has independently developed high-performance, portable, lightweight, medical-grade, and highly precise wearable sleep monitoring devices and systematic solutions. Yoomind is the core brand under EEGSmart.

Currently, EEGsmart is developing products in two directions.: First, an integrated solution for EEG sleep monitoring in hospitals; second, a series of home medical-grade EEG sleep monitoring devices that can help more people manage, improve, and enhance their sleep. In the future, EEGSmart will also collaborate with sleep ecosystem solution providers and other partners to build an overall sleep monitoring platform.

It is reported that the "UMindSleep Forehead Patch Sleep Recorder" independently developed by EEGSmart has successfully obtained the Class II Medical Device Registration Certificate in China.At the same time, EEGsmart has developed an integrated solution for in-hospital EEG sleep monitoring based on this technology, helping hospitals improve the efficiency and accuracy of sleep diagnosis and treatment. For the home-use market, EEGsmart has developed this year a medical-grade EEG sleep monitor called "Sleep Cat's Eye," which is about the size of a one-yuan coin and weighs 5.2 grams, comprehensively enhancing users' sleep quality and health levels.

The assessment of sleep conditions is usually highly subjective. To objectively evaluate the sleep status of individuals with sleep disorders, it is necessary to use relevant diagnostic equipment to monitor multiple physiological indicators related to the patient's sleep process.

EEG is the gold standard for sleep monitoring. Currently, polysomnography (PSG) is commonly used in hospitals to monitor patients' sleep. This device monitors changes in various physiological indicators, including EEG, ECG, EMG, EOG, oronasal airflow (both thermal and pressure-based can be monitored simultaneously), blood oxygen saturation, thoracic and abdominal breathing, snoring, body position, limb movements, and more.

However, this technology still has disadvantages such as complex operation and limited application scenarios. The market urgently needs a sleep monitoring and management solution with strong comprehensive information analysis and processing capabilities, higher intelligence, more portability, and the ability to integrate the entire process of sleep disorder diagnosis, monitoring, and even treatment through networking and systematic means.

EEGSmart initially entered the market through in-hospital sleep monitoring. By independently developing dozens of patented bioinformation sensing technologies and core algorithms, it accurately collects high-precision EEG data and key vital signs from the human body.Developed the Youmengsi "Forehead Patch Sleep Recorder" and related solutions. Based on this technology and understanding of in-hospital needs, EEGsmart has created four sets of solutions to further achieve comprehensive management of in-hospital EEG sleep monitoring, providing department doctors with full diagnostic and treatment information.

It is reported that the EEGsmart "Forehead Patch Sleep Recorder" can record sleep parameter data such as brain waves, pulse rate, blood oxygen, body movement, and body position throughout the night. It can also automatically generate an overnight sleep report, featuring simple operation, wide application scenarios, and automated processes.

UMindSleep EEGsmart Forehead Patch Sleep Recorder

"The Integrated Solution for In-Hospital EEG Sleep Monitoring" and "The Lightweight In-Hospital Sleep Monitoring Solution" can meet the demand for EEG sleep monitoring of over 50 people in the hospital, with an overall staging accuracy rate reaching above 97.67% of the average level of expert manual staging. These solutions provide department doctors with comprehensive AI analysis reports of sleep monitoring and clinical auxiliary diagnostic reference opinions. Additionally, by establishing a big data center for EEG monitoring within the hospital, it is possible to achieve networked sleep monitoring and manage sleep monitoring across multiple wards or patient areas.

In response to the pain points of complex PSG operation and limited application scenarios, EEGsmart has developed a portable sleep monitoring solution for patients outside the hospital to meet the sleep monitoring needs of outpatients across various departments. Subjects can complete all operations on a tablet, with support for offline recording, fulfilling the demand for real-time sleep EEG monitoring at home for patients outside the hospital.

The sleep monitoring expansion module launched by EEGsmart can be used in integrated in-hospital EEG sleep monitoring and portable out-of-hospital sleep monitoring solutions. With the real-time centralized monitoring and batch data management features of the data relay, it assists in offline recording, better meeting the needs for in-hospital and out-of-hospital sleep monitoring.

Speaking of the hospital layout, He Chao, founder of EEGsmart, said:"The advantage of the in-hospital market lies in its relative stability, while the difficulty is that it has certain barriers and high requirements for product performance. Product development requires companies to conduct extensive clinical data screening, accumulation, and clinical trials. We spent five years developing the 'EEGSmart Forehead Patch Sleep Recorder' as an initial screening and diagnostic tool for sleep disorders. Going forward, we will also apply brain-computer interface and biosensor technologies to wearable medical device products in the fields of neonatal, adolescent, adult life health diagnosis and treatment."

EEGsmart Forehead Patch Sleep Recorder Product Diagram

Sleep tracking apps, smart bracelets, and other sleep monitoring technology products are gaining increasing market acceptance. According to the "2022 Online Sleep Consumption Report" released by JD.com this year, the popularity of technology-assisted sleep products rose in 2021. The transaction amounts for smart sleep devices, sleep apnea machines, and smart beds among people aged 26-35 increased by 208%, 167%, and 106% year-on-year, respectively.

However, "non-contact" sensor devices such as smart bracelets, smart beds, and smart bracelets can only collect sleep data like body movement, heart rate, and snoring. The evaluation results are relatively rough and superficial, and they cannot monitor core standards such as brain waves, which are key pain points. Using such products, it is difficult to conduct precise sleep staging and sleep problem analysis.

With the continuous increase in external market demand and the ongoing accumulation of internal technology, EEGsmart has launched a home-use medical-grade EEG sleep monitor called "UMindSleep Cat's Eye," which is about the size of a one-yuan coin and weighs only 5.2 grams. By providing intelligent solutions, it truly achieves real-time sleep stage monitoring, precise positioning, recording of hundreds of indicators, and effect tracking for improvement.

EEGSmart Home Sleep Monitor —— Sleep Cat's Eye

According to He Chao, the EEGsmart team spent 7 years refining "Sleep Cat Eye," further achieving device miniaturization while ensuring data stability and reliability. EEGsmart broke down this process into two steps: hardware optimization and software optimization.

First, by customizing front-end simulation chips, the goal of low power consumption, high performance, and small size can be achieved. According to reports, the international standard noise for EEG machines is 6μVpp, while the chip developed by EEGsmart has extremely low noise, with effective signals operating within a 3μ range, which is half of others' baseline noise. In terms of wireless signal transmission, a high-performance solution was chosen. Modifications and customizations were made to the printed circuit board size, power consumption, and wireless Bluetooth transmission protocols to ensure minimal product size and power consumption from multiple aspects.

EEGsmart Sleep Cat's Eye Product Schematic

Secondly, optimize and enhance product performance through AI algorithms. It is reported that EEGsmart has undergone nine rounds of updates and iterations, accumulating over 1,000 clinical data cases. Based on in-hospital product standards, they have ultimately developed the world's smallest sleep monitor capable of meeting EEG machine testing standards.

According to the "2022 China National Health Sleep White Paper," nearly three-quarters of people have experienced sleep problems, 44% of young people aged 19-25 stay up past midnight, 42% of elderly people take more than half an hour to fall asleep, and the insomnia rate is as high as 21%. Sleep issues have become a major concern in today's society.

As people's attention to sleep problems continues to increase in the future, the value of the sleep industry will keep rising. At that time, only products with high technological barriers, adhering to clinical standards, and oriented towards market demands will be able to become the dark horses of the track, "unlocking" the high-value sleep industry.

In building a closed-loop sleep ecosystem, EEGSmart has partnered with Yuyue Medical to jointly create an integrated solution for the "diagnosis and treatment" of sleep disorders. Additionally, EEGSmart actively participates in national key research and development projects. In December last year, Southern Medical University's Nanfang Hospital led a major special project of the Ministry of Science and Technology, titled "Research and Application of a Precision Evaluation and Individualized Prevention System for Insomnia Disorders Based on Neuroinformatics," in collaboration with nine other organizations, further promoting the establishment of EEGSmart’s industry-academia-research cooperative relationships.

In addition, EEGsmart was awarded the "National High-tech Enterprise" in 2017 and has published and presented three articles in journals and academic conferences such as Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, AASM, and the International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society. Moreover, the Youmeng series of products from EEGsmart have participated in scientific research project collaborations related to national natural science topics with institutions such as the University of Hong Kong, Beijing 301 Hospital, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Qinghai Red Cross Hospital, Shanghai Huashan Hospital, and Peking University's Interdisciplinary Academy.

After four official clinical trials (2019 FDA blood oxygen clinical trial for registration; 2020 NMPA blood oxygen clinical trial for registration; 2020 FDA sleep clinical trial for registration; 2021 MLST comparative clinical trial), EEGSmart has now applied for dozens of patents and over a hundred intellectual property rights for its self-developed system devices and core AI algorithm analysis technology in the field of multi-biological information collection and analysis applications centered on brainwave technology. Its products have been clinically utilized in more than eighty medical institutions.

In the future, EEGsmart will also cooperate with partners related to internet health, insurance, and the sleep ecosystem industry for its home product pipeline, further expanding the application scope of EEGsmart products.