Glasses that protect night-shift nurses' sleep hormones while keeping vision clear
Filtered eyewear to prevent light-induced melatonin suppression while maintaining visual performance and alertness in night-shift working nurses
Seeing if wearing an orange blue-blocking filter over one eye helps night-shift nurses keep melatonin levels steady while preserving vision and alertness.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New York, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11118650 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You would try wearing special orange, blue-blocking filters either over one eye or both while researchers measure your melatonin, vision performance, and subjective sleepiness in a lab setting. Next, they will test the filters in a simulation center where nurses perform depth-perception tasks like IV or catheter placement while wearing the eyewear. Finally, the study will follow nurses working real night shifts at Mount Sinai and a partner hospital in Indiana to measure melatonin and on-shift performance with the filters. The team will compare monocular (one-eye) filtering, binocular filtering, and no filter to see which balances hormone protection with safe, comfortable vision.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal participants are adult nurses or other healthcare workers who regularly work night shifts and are willing to try wearing the filter eyewear during lab, simulation, and real-shift testing.
Not a fit: People who do not work night shifts, cannot tolerate wearing a monocular filter, or who require full unfiltered binocular color vision for safety-sensitive tasks may not benefit.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could help night-shift workers protect their sleep hormones and reduce health risks from nighttime light without hurting job performance or alertness.
How similar studies have performed: Previous studies show blue-blocking lenses and monocular light exposure can preserve nighttime melatonin, but using a single-eye filter while checking real-world nursing tasks is a newer, practical test.
Where this research is happening
New York, United States
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai — New York, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Rea, Mark S — Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
- Study coordinator: Rea, Mark S
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.