Apparatus and method for inhibiting melatonin synthesis in a horse
AssigneeEquilume Limited
InventorsBarbara Murphy, John Sheridan
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus for inhibiting melatonin synthesis in a horse comprises a blinker having an internal surface of which at least a part is diffusing. A source of light is positioned for direction into the horse's eye by the diffusing-surface. The light source and diffusing surface are configured such that the light directed into the horse's eye is blue.
Claims21
A device for inducing physiological change, the device comprising a mask or a harness, fittable to a head of a horse, the device including an artificial blue light source, the device configured to shine blue light from the artificial blue light source into just one eye of the horse, in which in use the artificial blue light source provides blue light with intensity of at least 10 lux into the just one eye of the horse, causing a suppression of melatonin production sufficient to induce physiological change, in which the device includes a blinker, the blinker housing the artificial blue light source, in which the device includes an eye opening arranged to mountably receive the blinker, in which the blinker is mountable to, and removable from, the eye opening, wherein the blinker includes one, two or more windows.
A system including a device for inducing physiological change, and a control, the device comprising a mask or a harness, fittable to a head of a horse, the device including an artificial blue light source, the device configured to shine blue light from the artificial blue light source into just one eye of the horse, in which in use the artificial blue light source provides blue light with intensity of at least 10 lux into the just one eye of the horse, causing a suppression of melatonin production sufficient to induce physiological change, wherein the control is configured to turn on the artificial blue light source, and to leave the light source on, so that the horse receives a combined total of natural and the blue light of at least approximately 16 hours during each 24 hour period, in which the device includes a blinker, the blinker housing the artificial blue light source, in which the device includes an eye opening arranged to mountably receive the blinker, in which the blinker is mountable to, and removable from, the eye opening, wherein the blinker includes one, two or more windows.
A device for inducing physiological change, the device comprising a mask or a harness, fittable to a head of a horse, the device including an artificial blue light source, the device configured to shine blue light from the artificial blue light source into one eye of the horse, wherein the device is configurable such that light is directed into only a single one of the horse's eyes at any given time, in which in use the artificial blue light source provides blue light with intensity of at least 10 lux into a single one eye of the horse, causing a suppression of melatonin production sufficient to induce physiological change, in which the device includes a blinker, the blinker housing the artificial blue light source, in which the device includes two eye openings each arranged to mountably receive the blinker, in which the blinker is mountable to, and removable from, each eye opening of the two eye openings, wherein the blinker includes one, two or more windows.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.