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

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是使用智能手机上的软件来减少鼾声和睡眠呼吸暂停。有超过9000万美国人患有鼾症，2500万美国人患有阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停(OSA)。鼾症是一种普遍存在的社会问题，极大地降低了个人、伴侣和家庭的生活质量，并与负面健康后果有关。目前治疗鼾症的方法往往无效、过于昂贵或负担过重。打呼噜还与阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停综合症的医疗状况有关，后者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，并增加癌症死亡的风险。此外，与OSA相关的经济成本也很大。这个i-Corps项目是一种全新的方法来解决鼾症和睡眠呼吸暂停的根本原因，并将极大地改善数百万美国人的生活。这个i-Corps项目是一种新的治疗方法，它锻炼上呼吸道，治疗鼾症和阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停(OSA)的根本原因，OSA是一种在睡眠中塌陷的微弱呼吸道。这种方法是创新的，因为它确定了独特的、定向的练习，可以在语音控制的智能手机游戏中执行，既有效又吸引人。该疗法建立在现有研究的基础上，这些研究表明，锻炼上呼吸道可以大幅减少鼾声和睡眠呼吸暂停。在科学文献的大力支持下，最初的工作涉及与言语治疗和睡眠医学专家合作，以确定加强和调节上呼吸道的最有效疗法，以解决鼾症和睡眠呼吸暂停的根本原因。这项工作包括概念验证实验，使用超声成像技术对不同关节的舌头运动进行成像，以确保治疗始终具有预期的效果。

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.