Product - SomnoSense

SomnoSense is an intraoral biophysical sensor system designed to enable comfortable, accurate, and scalable at-home sleep apnea screening. By measuring both physical and biochemical changes directly within the oral environment, SomnoSense addresses critical gaps left by existing diagnostic methods.

Our system integrates:

  • A low-cost disposable intraoral patch
  • A reusable electronics module (prototype stage)
  • A smartphone or computer-based application
  • A future-ready AI-driven analysis pipeline
Model

Together, these components transform complex overnight sleep studies into a non-invasive, accessible, and physiologically grounded diagnostic experience.



The Problem We Address

Sleep apnea affects over one billion people worldwide, yet 80–90% of cases remain undiagnosed. Current diagnostic pathways suffer from major limitations:

  • Polysomnography (PSG) is accurate but expensive, uncomfortable, and difficult to scale.
  • Home sleep tests (HSTs) improve convenience but rely on limited signals and often underestimate disease severity.
  • Consumer wearables lack clinical reliability and physician acceptance.
  • A key limitation shared across these approaches is the neglect of the oral environment, despite the fact that airflow obstruction directly alters humidity, gas exchange, and saliva chemistry inside the mouth.
SomnoSense fills this gap.


Our Solution

SomnoSense is a flexible, biocompatible intraoral patch designed to rest comfortably along the hard palate or inner oral surface. It detects sleep apnea by combining:

  • Physical sensing: airflow-related changes in oral humidity and temperature
  • Biochemical sensing: saliva pH shifts associated with impaired ventilation and carbon dioxide accumulation
Oral Environment

To our knowledge, SomnoSense is the first at-home sleep apnea system designed to integrate both physical and biochemical data sources in a single intraoral device.



System Overview

1. Intraoral Patch (Disposable)
  • Anatomically contoured for secure, comfortable placement
  • Designed for overnight wear with minimal user burden
  • Houses sensing regions for humidity and biochemical monitoring
  • Future versions will be fabricated from medical-grade silicone or hydrogel for enhanced biocompatibility
  • In the current prototype stage, the patch form factor is demonstrated using a modified mouthguard to validate core sensing mechanisms.
Skin Model
2. Electronics Module (Reusable – Prototype Stage)
  • Interfaces with the intraoral patch during testing and validation
  • Collects high-resolution humidity and temperature data
  • Enables rapid prototyping, iteration, and signal verification
  • This modular approach allows the core physiology to be validated first, before full miniaturization into a single integrated patch.
Prototype
3. Smartphone / Computer Application

All sensor data is transmitted to a companion application that:

  • Displays real-time and overnight signal trends
  • Identifies apnea and hypopnea events
  • Produces a composite sleep quality score
App

Future versions will incorporate synchronized biochemical inputs and AI-based classifiers to generate clinically meaningful outputs such as an estimated Apnea-Hypopnea Index (AHI).



Our Technology

SomnoSense’s core innovation lies in dual-signal convergence.

Physical Signal: Oral Humidity & Temperature

During normal breathing, airflow produces stable, rhythmic humidity oscillations. During apnea events, airflow obstruction causes a sharp, measurable drop in oral humidity. This provides a reliable surrogate for airflow interruption.

Biochemical Signal: Saliva pH

Impaired ventilation leads to carbon dioxide accumulation, altering saliva chemistry. These changes produce a detectable shift in saliva pH, which reverses when breathing resumes. By requiring both signals to change in coordination, SomnoSense increases diagnostic confidence beyond single-signal systems.



Prototype Validation

We validated the feasibility of this approach through a functional prototype:

An Arduino-based system was embedded into a mouthguard platform and tested under simulated oral conditions. Controlled breathing trials demonstrated clear humidity drops during airflow interruption and rapid signal recovery upon resumed breathing. Saliva pH is currently demonstrated using a pH indicator strip as a biochemical proxy, with a clear and feasible pathway toward future electronic pH integration. This phased validation strategy reduces technical risk while preserving scalability.



Data Processing & AI Pipeline

Sensor data collected overnight is processed through a proprietary analysis pipeline that:

  • Identifies synchronized signal deviations
  • Filters noise and artifacts
  • Aggregates events across sleep cycles
  • Converts raw data into clinician-relevant metrics
Dataset

The creation of a paired humidity–pH dataset forms a unique and defensible data ecosystem that can be continuously refined through clinical trials and real-world use.



By transforming sleep apnea screening from a costly, uncomfortable lab procedure into a simple at-home experience, SomnoSense has the potential to dramatically increase diagnosis rates, enable earlier intervention, and improve long-term health outcomes for millions. SomnoSense represents a new class of intraoral biophysical diagnostics, bridging the gap between consumer wearables and clinical-grade sleep testing.