The solid angle of light sources and its impact on the suppression of melatonin in humans

Abstract

Our group conducted a preliminary study to examine the influence of different sizes of light sources, and therefore different illuminance levels, at the retina. Six participants were exposed to two lighting scenarios and saliva samples were collected to determine melatonin levels throughout the experiment. Melatonin levels were analyzed to compare the efficacy of each lighting scenario and its ability to suppress melatonin period. Our data is showing a trend that both lighting scenarios are capable of suppressing melatonin. Moreover, the preliminary data show that the lighting scenario with the large solid angle is more effective at suppressing melatonin compared to the lighting scenario with the small solid angle lighting scenario period. Further testing with a larger patient population will need to be done to prove statistical significance of our findings. Our further studies will repeat this experiment with a larger test group and modifying the time frame between different lighting scenarios period. © 2013 Springer-Verlag.