Approximately 50 million people worldwide live with epilepsy, with many experiencing seizures during sleep. Existing solutions primarily focus on monitoring and caregiver alerts, providing limited support during the event itself. Sentra was developed as a smart safety pillow that combines detection, decision-making, and responsive intervention to support safer sleep for people living with nocturnal epilepsy. Using embedded pressure sensors, an accelerometer, and a microcontroller, the system continuously monitors sleeping posture and movement patterns. When seizure-related movement is detected, integrated air chambers inflate to gently guide the user’s head towards a safer side-lying position while simultaneously notifying caregivers through a companion application.
Early concepts explored wearable, bedside, and inflatable support solutions before evolving into a pillow-based system that could seamlessly integrate into the sleep environment. Through iterative prototyping and testing, the design was refined to optimize sensor placement, air chamber positioning, pillow geometry, and inflation logic.
The current proof-of-concept combines six pressure sensors, motion-sensing technology, and dual inflatable air chambers to detect seizure-related movement, assist in repositioning the user’s head towards a safer side-lying position, and notify caregivers through a companion application.
Further development included material exploration, user experience design, branding, packaging, and commercialization planning.
Project Summery
Related Projects
Cremella
CAD Mouse
