Developing a prototype 3D printed smart mouth guard with embedded SpO2 recorder

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Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common and serious respiratory disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of partial or complete obstruction of the upper airway, usually associated with a drop of blood's oxygen saturation and arousals. The most essential signal to record for sleep apnea diagnosis and monitoring is blood's oxygen saturation level by perfusion (SpO2). There are also several treatment devices including oral appliances to reduce snoring and apnea events. The goal of this industrious collaborative project is to design a novel prototype for oral appliances with 3D printing that can have the recently designed miniature SpO2 measurement microchip (by Dr. Moussavi's team) and its required batteries embedded and sealed inside the oral appliance. The industrial partner of this project, the Innovation Orthopaedic Center (IOC), is a leading expert in the design of biocompatible 3D printing materials and devices. Thus, the plan is first to identify an appropriate biocompatible material used in 3D printing; next, a typical model of an oral appliance will be printed, while the actual miniature SpO2 measurement unit and the batteries will be embedded and sealed. This process of printing has to be repeated several times for testing, debugging, modification and validation of the prototype. The structure of the proposed apparatus affects the quality of measurement for many applications. It will provide a new commercialization path for OIC to enter the medical devices market of sleep apnea monitoring. The proposed device will provide a very cost-effective way to monitor for OSA at home or any other setting without the supervision of a technologist; thus, reducing Canada's healthcare cost significantly.