New-Gen Devices Offer Sleep Apnea Patients Alternative CPAP Routes

03 Nov 2016

• By Jenny Blair

With half or more of all diagnosed obstructive sleep apnea patients who need continuous positive airway pressure machines unwilling or unable to use these devices, there’s a large unmet need for an alternative treatment. Startups are rising to the challenge with neuromodulation platforms, a mouthguard-like suction device, a nasal device with microblowers, and a vibrating device that nudges patients to turn on their sides.

Sleep Disorder — • Source: shutterstock.com

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common, devastating and costly condition. It affects an estimated 100 million people worldwide, of whom 18 million are in the US alone, and its societal costs are huge. A 2010 joint Harvard Medical School-McKinsey & Company report estimated that the annual cost of moderate to severe OSA in the US is between $65bn- $165bn, including diagnosis and treatment, hidden health-care costs (notably cardiovascular disease, with which moderate to severe OSA is strongly associated), traffic and workplace accidents, and absenteeism.

For decades, the go-to treatment for moderate to severe sleep apnea has been for the patient to wear a continuous...