MICHAEL LARSON: I think
creativity is at the very heart
of what it means to be human,
and we are most in touch
with our humanity
when we are creating.
My middle child, Jessica, she
was very high achiever,
first-chair flutist
in a local youth symphony,
played the piano beautifully,
all A's in school.
All of that suddenly changed
when it became clear that her
sleep during the day
was getting uncontrollable
for her.
I'm Dr. Michael Larson,
and I'm a professor by day
and an inventor by day
and night.
And my daughter has narcolepsy.
When my daughter finally got
a diagnosis of narcolepsy,
I had never heard of the disease
before.
So I began to learn all I could
about sleep
and how to help people get
better sleep.
Jessica does deal
with excessive daytime
sleepiness from the body's lack
of regulating sleep cycles
properly.
She also has cataplexy, which
is a sudden loss of muscle tone,
and typically someone will
crumple to the ground.
JESSICA LARSON: I was exhausted
not sleeping well.
For a while I didn't know if I
was going to be able to go
to college the way I had planned
originally.
You know, there were just a lot
of things that I kind of started
to wonder if I needed to give up
on.
MICHAEL LARSON: It becomes very
hard for someone
to advocate for themselves.
There are many, many people
suffering from narcolepsy.
Many of those people
are not getting any help,
so I took it upon myself to turn
to technology to see if we can't
develop a solution that would
work naturally with someone's
body instead of altering
the biochemistry.
I earned my PhD from MIT
in mechanical engineering,
and really had my eyes opened
to the idea that if solutions
don't already exist then go
ahead and create one.
People have been using what we
call binaural tones
for a long time.
2000 years ago, Tibetan monks
were using singing bowls, which
have a very interesting effect
on the brain in a natural way,
to encourage meditation
and calming effect.
I have optimized that for sleep
using actual brainwave
measurements in real time
to adjust these tones
in a customized way.
I have invented
a comfortable headband
that people wear while they're
sleeping,
and it has
some built-in speakers that play
binaural tones designed
both to help people go to sleep
but also to help people stay
asleep.
I think the technology is just
beginning to scratch the surface
on how we can have
the first real technological
solution for sleep.
I'm hoping more inventors will
join me in a quest to help
people sleep better, because we
can help a lot of people
in the process.
I am clear that the device is
not a magic solution or a cure
for the condition.
I find that I am able to share
important things
from my own research,
but mostly from dealing
with Jessica
and watching how she deals
with narcolepsy in her own life.
JESSICA LARSON: Honestly, it has
changed my life.
I went from barely functioning
and being really sick
all the time,
and I'm about to graduate
from college now.
So it has made
a huge difference.
MICHAEL LARSON: I get
my greatest motivation
from thinking about how I can
help people live better lives.
I can't tell you what
a great feeling that is for me
as a dad,
to know that I've done something
to help my daughter.
[MUSIC PLAYING]