GOALS
This project aims to implement an open science-based RDI environment (SmartSleeb Lab) that fulfills national and international quality and safety requirements and is suitable for measuring sleep quality, various physiological signals, and vigilance under standardized conditions. SmartSleep Lab will be employed for the development, testing, and validation of various healthcare technologies in conformity with medical device standards and medical approval processes as well as employed for academic-level education. The project aims to enhance collaboration between local health-themed projects, organizations (Savonia, VTT, KUH, UEF), and companies in the Kuopio area and is strongly linked to the Kuopio Health innovation ecosystem and Kuopio Living Lab concept.

ACTIONS
In the investment part of the project, equipment suppliers will be put out to tender, and equipment will be ordered. Moreover, sleep laboratory and medical equipment testing facility, meeting national and international safety standards (SFS-EN ISO 17025:2017, SFS-EN ISO 17011:2017), will be built in the premises vacated from the former Experimental Animal Center of the UEF. The laboratory will be merged into permanent operations of the Department of Applied Physics, UEF. Moreover, a service concept will be established around the daily operations of the laboratory, based on the results of the development project. The actions are planned to be carried out in the following order:

1) Tendering of equipment suppliers and creating laboratory safety plans
2) Equipment procurement and lab construction work
3) Equipment installation
4) Deployment and test measurements

This project aims at the sustainable development of the local economy by setting up superior-quality laboratory.

RESULTS
The SmartSleep Lab RDI environment will be the only sleep research unit in Finland located outside clinical premises. The SmartSleep Lab strengthens the health technology competence ecosystem at the Savilahti campus and enables local commercial actors to use publicly open, high-quality data, and to test new technological solutions in an authentic clinical laboratory environment. The lab will be strongly RDI-focused, enabling bold openings and new development ideas. The service concepts and regional test chains developed during the project will be rooted in permanent operations, and after the project, SmartSleep Lab will continue to operate as a certified and accredited service provider. The project thus significantly strengthens the regional special expertise of the Pohjois-Savo and contributes to the RDI activities of companies in the region.