Wednesday, December 25, 2013

How to stop snoring by ASAP and What is it?

When the tissues of the palate and throat vibrate during sleep, it causes the air molecules to form sound waves, giving rise to snoring. Around 20-30% of the people are habitual snorers. Snoring increases with age and obesity. Snoring contribute to many health ailments such as high BP, stroke, atherosclerosis etc and also affects interpersonal relationship.

Snoring mostly occurs during the REM (rapid eye movement) stage of sleep. This is because the brain sends signals to all the muscles of the body except the breathing muscles, but during REM, the tissues of the tongue, throat and palate relax and collapse resulting in snoring.



Extended soft palate, poor muscle tone, airway blockage, excess tissue along the airway etc are some of the factors that contribute to snoring. To treat snoring several techniques and appliances have been developed. However, none of the devices has been successful in rooting out snoring completely. To deal with the limitations of all these devices, an application called Adjustable Snore Attenuation Pressure (ASAP) is developed.


ASAP is a wearable device which is self-contained and enables adjustment of airflow to reduce tissue vibration. It is energy efficient & can be remotely controlled by the snorer’s bed partner.


ASAP consists of members inserted into a person’s mouth or nose and a member covering the mouth and nose. There is a channel that blows air across the airflow constraining member. There is an airflow adjusting mechanism which is used to select the rate of airflow, air pressure, airflow duration, direction, and airflow volume, pattern of air pulses, magnitude and duration of air pulses. The adjustment can be done manually or automatically. Automatic adjustment occurs while the person is asleep in response to the detection of snoring. Airflow adjustment mechanism consists of changing the resistance, momentum, rotational speed, direction of turbines, fan gear etc. or changing the oscillating speed of a reed, valve, flap etc or changing the shape of the air channel or changing the tension of compressible member such as elastic band. Changing the inflation within a balloon or any other expandable member also helps in adjusting air flow characteristics.



The kinetic energy of the air flowing through the respiratory track is converted to oscillation of flap, speaker diaphragm, reed etc. this energy is also used to change shape and size of air flow channels and all other activities related to airflow adjustment mechanism.

Since ASAP is energy self-sufficient, it can run for a long time without having to recharge it or replace battery. This is one of the biggest advantages of ASAP over other applications and devices.

The adjusting mechanism is done iteratively over a span of multiple respiratory cycles to successfully reduce snoring.

The ASAP device is connected with a remote member such as a wireless remote control unit, physical remote control unit, internet site, smart phone or any other communication device.


Snoring could be the symptom of some underlying health ailments such as sleep apnea, cardiovascular diseases etc. So, consulting a doctor is highly essential. The patient may be physically examined and asked certain questions relating to sleeping pattern, day time sleepiness and frequency of awakening at night to diagnose the underlying causes.

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