Grant: Project Grant

Sleep apnea, in particular obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), is one of the most common breathing disorders with major comorbidities, e.g. memory loss, increased risk of accidents, and cardiovascular diseases. OSA severity is usually assessed by full-night polysomnography (PSG), which is expensive, time consuming and expert intensive. OSA is generally underdiagnosed; that not only increases the risk of car accidents and comorbid diseases but also increases the risk of complications after a surgery requiring full anesthesia. Usually, there is no time to perform PSG prior to a surgery; currently it is done using a questionnaire that has poor accuracy. Thus, a quick and reliable screening tool for OSA and its severity during wakefulness is much desired. This proposal offers a solution in the form of a user friendly device connected to a smart phone that can be used to reliably predict OSA severity whilst awake by analyzing a few breathing sounds.