Key result
BeBreathe relaxation device lowers respiration rate and increases HRV compared to no device.
Why the study?
Do rapid relaxation devices with sensorial immersion alter physiological parameters such as EEG, respiration rate, and heart rate variability compared to no device?
Do rapid relaxation devices with sensorial immersion alter physiological parameters such as EEG, respiration rate, and heart rate variability compared to no device?
Rapid relaxation devices with sensorial immersion can acutely alter physiological parameters, including decreasing respiration rate and increasing heart rate variability.
Device-associated acute HRV and respiration changes should not yet alter practice; leaves open clinical relevance pending larger controlled trials.
Rapid relaxation devices developed by private companies propose rapid solutions to fight against stress or anxiety. However, there have been insufficient scientific studies on these devices. In a previous article, we evaluated the variation of 15 physiological and psychological parameters before and after relaxation in 4 groups of participants using 3 different rapid (15 minute) relaxation devices with sensorial immersion and a control group using no device. This pilot study included 40 participants, 12 males and 28 females, aged 27-68 years old with an average of 42.7 ± 11.5 years old and showed that some parameters were more relevant for the analysis of these relaxation devices and suggested some differences in the relaxation processes between devices. We hypothesized that by analyzing physiological parameters recorded during the rapid relaxation process in the same population, we could unravel the previously observed pre-post treatment variations. The measurements included brain wave electroencephalography (Muse2 EEG) recordings, respiration rhythm (mechanical abdominal movements) and heart rate variability parameters (PPG signals). The objective of the study was to identify the physiological parameters recorded during relaxation of interest to discriminate the groups and to study the effects of the devices on these parameters. The EEG recordings showed differences in dominant waves between groups. In addition, the BeBreathe intervention group exhibited a decreased respiration rate compared to the control group, and a simultaneous increase in heart rate variability parameters, while other groups showed less significant variations in their respiration or heart rate variables, which was confirmed by a k-means cluster analysis. We discuss how these variations observed during rapid relaxation could contribute to the differences that we previously observed pre and post relaxation interventions. Finally, we built a model to determine which parameters discriminate best between the groups.
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Gomes et al. (2020) studied this question. Rapid relaxation devices with sensorial immersion (e.g., BeBreathe) vs. No device was evaluated on Physiological parameters (EEG, respiration rhythm, heart rate variability). The BeBreathe rapid relaxation device decreased respiration rate and increased heart rate variability compared to no device, with EEG showing differences in dominant waves between groups.
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