Our Project

The purpose of this project is to develop an alternative treatment for Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). Patients with OSA experience periods during sleep where their throat muscles relax and soft tissue blocks the airway at the back of the throat. When the airway is obstructed, they do not get enough oxygen. Treatment options range from uncomfortable forced-air face masks (CPAP machines) to oral appliances that hold the mouth partially open. If severe enough, resective surgery may be recommended. These devices lack effectiveness, comfort, and non-invasive approaches. To remedy this lack of options, we have proposed an oral appliance that allows a relaxed closed mouth position and stimulates the relaxed tissues in the throat when it senses decreasing oxygen levels. A pulse oximeter electrical component will be used to sense the drop in blood oxygen saturation, which we will compare to other commercially available pulse oximeters to ensure our device is close to the sensitivity of those devices. We hope to show that pulse oximetry can be used as a method of actuating an electrical stimulation to be able to improve the lives of patients with OSA.