An intelligent implant system for monitoring and biofeedback therapy of snoring

The problem of snoring increases as a result of an older and more overweight population. In Germany alone, there are more than 8 million habitual snorers. This project aims at helping those who are troubled by snoring or mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) by offering a long-term miniaturized monitoring system in combination with biofeedback therapy for use at home. By using an accelerometer mounted in a removable headband (i.e. fixed to the skull), head position and the vibrations from snoring were successfully recorded. In addition, respiration frequency was derived from the head breathing movements as well as the heart rate from blood pulse movements while sleeping. This allows innovative new ways of home monitoring with minimum annoyance to the snorer. One aspect is to use the miniaturized sensor in an intelligent implant system for longterm screening at home; another is to evaluate both the compliance and efficacy of therapy methods over a longer period of time. The headband was fitted with a biofeedback signal in order to perform positional therapy, since many snorers and OSA patients have the problem predominantly in the supine position. Within 10 seconds after a positional change to the supine position, the biofeedback signal starts up and the snorer is in this way encouraged to change position. Since a position change happens in a light sleep phase, the biofeedback therapy is applied with minimal disturbance to the sleep quality of the snorer. The first trials has shown promising results and further studies will be conducted to verify the effect.