I-Corps: Using mobile health and gamification to reduce snoring and sleep apnea

I-Corps：利用移动健康和游戏化来减少打鼾和睡眠呼吸暂停

• 批准号: 1743052
• 负责人: Umesh Goswami
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-06-15 至 2018-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1743052&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Corps; Using; mobile; health; gamification

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to reduce snoring and sleep apnea using a software that resides on a smartphone. There are over 90 million Americans who suffer from snoring and 25 million Americans who suffer from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Snoring is a pervasive social problem that greatly reduces the quality of life of individuals, partners, and families and has been tied to negative health outcomes. The current treatments for snoring are often ineffective, too expensive or burdensome. Snoring is also associated with the medical condition of OSA which is linked to serious health conditions such as hypertension, stroke, heart disease, arrhythmias, diabetes, depression, and increases the risk of cancer mortality. In addition, there is also a considerable economic cost associated with OSA. This I-Corps project is a completely new approach to address the root cause of both snoring and sleep apnea and will greatly improve the lives of millions of Americans.This I-Corps project is a new therapy that exercises the upper airway and treats the root cause of snoring and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a weak airway that collapses during sleep. The approach is innovative because it identifies unique, directed exercises that can be performed in a voice controlled smartphone game that is both effective and engaging. The therapy builds on existing research, which shows that exercising the upper airway can result in a substantial reduction in snoring and sleep apnea. Backed by strong support from scientific literature, the initial work involved partnering with experts in speech therapy and sleep medicine to identify the most effective therapy to strengthen and tone the upper airway, which addresses the root cause of snoring and sleep apnea. The work has included proof-of-concept experiments using ultrasound imaging of tongue motion during various articulations to ensure the therapy consistently had the intended effect.

这个I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是使用智能手机上的软件来减少打鼾和睡眠呼吸暂停。有超过9000万美国人患有打鼾，2500万美国人患有阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停（OSA）。打鼾是一个普遍存在的社会问题，大大降低了个人，伴侣和家庭的生活质量，并与负面的健康结果有关。目前治疗打鼾的方法往往是无效的，过于昂贵或负担。打鼾也与OSA的医学状况有关，OSA与严重的健康状况有关，如高血压、中风、心脏病、心律失常、糖尿病、抑郁症，并增加癌症死亡率的风险。此外，还存在与OSA相关的相当大的经济成本。这个I-Corps项目是一个全新的方法来解决打鼾和睡眠呼吸暂停的根本原因，并将大大改善数百万美国人的生活。这个I-Corps项目是一个新的疗法，锻炼上气道，治疗打鼾和阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停（OSA）的根本原因，一个弱气道，在睡眠期间崩溃。这种方法是创新的，因为它识别了独特的，有指导的练习，可以在语音控制的智能手机游戏中进行，既有效又吸引人。该疗法建立在现有研究的基础上，该研究表明，锻炼上呼吸道可以大大减少打鼾和睡眠呼吸暂停。在科学文献的大力支持下，最初的工作涉及与语言治疗和睡眠医学专家合作，以确定最有效的治疗方法来加强和调节上呼吸道，从而解决打鼾和睡眠呼吸暂停的根本原因。这项工作包括使用各种发音过程中舌头运动的超声成像进行概念验证实验，以确保治疗始终具有预期效果。