710222Non-Invasive Assessment of Sleep ApnoeaClosedGRD Proof of ConceptInnovate UKIn recent years, there has been increasing awareness in the medical arena and in the media of the prevalence of sleep disorders. The most common of these is snoring, which is a benign form of upper airway obstruction. However, in more severe forms, airway obstruction leads to Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA), in which the sufferer ceases to breathe for prolonged periods during sleep due to a complete collapse of their airway. The cessation of breath causes the sufferer to break their deep sleep to force themselves to breathe, and this pattern may repeat hundreds of times during a normal night’s sleep. This leads to chronic fatigue due to lack of sleep, but there are also other major complications including serious cardiovascular complications from the constant strain on the system due to lack of oxygenation during the apnoeic incidents. This condition remains largely undiagnosed, but physicians are becoming more aware of its existence and the accompanying serious complications, with a number of potential treatment options currently available, including Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) and even surgery. Even though diagnosis of the condition is straightforward and standard practice in sleep clinics, the identification of the exact location of the airway collapse and assessment of the severity of collapse are not, and they are always invasive, and usually not conducted during normal physiological sleep. Hence prescribed treatment is often misguided, especially for surgical cases where the estimated success rate is about 55%. We have identified a novel, completely non-invasive method that will allow the severity and physical sites of the airway obstruction to be identified. This innovative solution could be integrated into routine sleep clinic studies, and potentially could be used as the basis of a home-based device. We expect our offering to form a step-change in the clinical management of this dangerous condition.