The Process

So this right here, is me and my dad. He was diagnosed with Obstructive Sleep Apnoea in 2015. For years that followed were marred with exhaustion. Often citing the mask was causing it.

“The mask and tubes make it feel as though I’m wired up to my death bed”.

It was this statement which made me realise just how long-term this condition can be. With some ailments, you take a pill and go about your day and night. This however is a lifestyle change which is forced upon him because of the condition. Not only do patients need to wear an uncomfortable mask. They need to take care of the equipment and failure to do so has multiple knock on effects like poor quality of sleep and tiredness throughout the day, as well as risk of chest infections and other respiratory illnesses. 

My initial desk research into the condition focussed on two key areas. Statistics and severity. According to the NHS, there are 25 million people in the UK who snore and of those, 1 in 10 are thought to have OSA, whether it’s diagnosed or otherwise. It’s also a worrying statistic that 26% of commercial drivers have Sleep Apnoea with more being thought to have not come forward for diagnosis for fear of implications to their driving license and therefore, careers. I found this statistic hit close to home as my father before he was registered as unfit to work, was a courier. 

The effects of OSA are also quite staggering. With the lack of concentrated oxygen going to the brain during sleep, untreated OSA has been linked to Depression, Alzheimer’s, Heart Disease, Stroke and Cancer to name just a few. There is a definite growing need to raise awareness of this condition. 

I interviewed a friend of mine from back in college who I recently discovered had OSA. We discussed what life was like pre-diagnosis to how he felt being on CPAP therapy. He was one of the more unusual cases of people to have OSA. He isn’t at all overweight, nor did he have any habits which may have incurred overly relaxed throat muscles. However when his tests showed on average, 77 apnoea’s an hour (Double what is considered severe), it wasn’t any surprise that this condition was having huge implications on his health. 

Having been treated for the past 3 years for Sleep Apnoea, he expressed how the treatment, though sometimes uncomfortable, was improving his day to day life. He was no longer requiring mid-day naps. He was able to keep focussed at work and he was having a regular sleeping cycle.

Turns out, they don’t actually respond with “Sleep in another room then!”

I was invited to visit the Ears, Nose, Throat (ENT) clinic at Ninewells Hospital where I was able sit in on a number of patient’s appointments. I found this to be insightful with respect to the anatomical problems that come with Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA)

I was later invited to shadow at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary’s Sleep Clinic. Here I spent 6hrs observing diagnoses and treatment of patients with OSA. It was during these sessions I discovered a common disconnect patients had with the maintenance of the mask.

During my shadowing sessions, I regualrly observed patients complaining about their CPAP devices. A lot of them either saying that the treatment didn’t work or that the straps/mask hurt. In almost every single case, when the nurse quizzed them on how often they were cleaning their device. Almost every one of them, would admit to not cleaning it as often as the manufacturers recommended. They would then over-tighten the straps to compensate for a dirty cushion which would result in the experience being uncomfortable. 

Those who came in for a routine device check-up, who were reaping the benefits from the device, you could see just by looking at the cushion of their mask, that they were keeping up with the cleaning routine. This led me to question whether there was a gap in the routine of people sleeping with these masks, and whether I could make something which would make cleaning these devices more of an automatic response than a chore. 

This project aimed to solve a clear problem in the morning routine of those with Obstructive Sleep Apnoea. I focused on creating a simple, effective, and intuitive mask cleaning system that enabled users to clean their masks from the moment they got out of bed. The device required little to no maintenance, sat at the user's bedside, and ensured that the mask was clean, dry, and ready to use by the time they returned for their following night's sleep. Special consideration was given to the elderly and those with reduced dexterity.

The iterative prototyping began with trying to identify the scale of the product. As well as looking exploring possible technologies.

Yeah nah. I don’t think I can claim to that. However I my exploration of technology led me to looking at combining hot water with an ultrasonic cleaner in the hopes that I could create something that would be hygienic.

I realised during this process that replacing the water daily would be just as tedious. So to combat this - I also looked at how ultraviolet water cleaners could be employed to preserve and recycle the water for up to a week.

During the technology exploration, I had to identify how the components would interact with each other and whether this was feasible.

Housing the parts first required creating the components in Fusion 360. This allowed me to digitally prototype the form of the product.

So one of the inspirations I had when creating the model came from my Tassimo coffee machine. By mounting the water reservoir on the side allowed for easy access whilst having the opening to fill this on the inside reduced risk of spillage when mounting it on the device.

In trying to align the design with the bedroom routine. One thing that sprung to mind was the notion of ‘hitting snooze’ - Maybe not with such ferocity that we are used to - but the top-loading and buttons existing on the top face were desirable.

Hello.