The Walalight™ system, which simulates natural sunlight exposure and promotes regular circadian rhythms, won first place at the 2014 LINK Innovation Competition on Monday in Chicago.

The patent-pending system helps improve many bodily functions, such as sleep, heart rate and blood pressure — especially for seniors, whose eyes typically don’t filter in regular lighting efficiently. The product is supplied by USaveLED LLC.

An independent panel of five judges, which included a McKnight’s editor, determined the top six finishers. Those had been culled from an original field of 50 entrants in conjunction with the LINK 2014 LTC & Senior Living Conference, which was held at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers Chicago.

The other place winners were:

2) Iconotouch from Creative Health Solutions, which enables individuals with speech, language or memory deficits a way to communicate via electronic devices.

3) Engage from Align, a web-based discharge-planning tool that created a new process to survey residents both at the beginning and end of their stays.

4) The Aquanomic Laundry Program from Ecolab, which delivers up to 48% in water and energy savings without any upfront capital investment in laundry operations.

5) Inform from Cornell Communications, an interactive wireless emergency/nurse call and staff communication system that combines tracking, reporting, communication and integration using Apple devices. It also adds Wi-Fi service to a building.

6) PointRight® Pro 30™ Rehospitalization, a program that analyzes facilities’ own MDS data for risk-adjusting rehospitalization rates.