Development of a Wearable Sleep Airway Optical Monitor

OSA (Obstructive Sleep Apnea) is a condition in which there is repetitive partial or complete collapse of the pharynx during sleep, resulting in blockage of the airway and inadequate respiration. The resultant of syndromes is a leading cause of hypertension, cardiac disease, and sudden cardiac death, affecting up to 200 million people worldwide. Current remedies include CPAPs (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure), mouth braces, and surgeries. The most common diagnostic procedure is Drug Induced Sleep Endoscopy (DISE). Taking the above as a subject, the research is designed to not only minimize the risk to the patient, but also to improve diagnostic fidelity to the natural state of sleep. Aim to develop a product with a similar fashion to COVID self-tests, which can be inserted by the patients themselves without either anesthesia or a doctor’s intervention. The design focus on comfort and reliability is driven by rigorous user experience research and anatomical analytics, and is to be worn overnight to monitor and acquire visual verification of obstruction with the most accurate representation of the airway during natural sleep.