BME Students Win Highest Honors at Design Day
A team of biomedical and electrical engineering students took home the $7,500 award for Most Outstanding Project at the College of Engineering's 2023 Craig M. Berge Design Day. The five-student team, led by BME major Logan Deane, built the wearable device "Snorpheus," which records sleeper data to guide treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
“I could not have gotten a better team. They’ve basically become my family throughout this,” Deane said.
Snorpheus provides valuable information about the snoring and sleeping positions of those who suffer from OSA, helping clinicians recommend the best therapy. Based on the information, clinicians might work with patients to sleep in different positions or use oral implants that reshape the mouth. Both treatments prevent snoring, which leads to OSA, and are permanent solutions that address the root cause of illness, unlike CPAP therapy, which only addresses symptoms, said team member and BME major Nisha Rajakrishna.
OSA is a disease in itself, and it can be implicated in medical conditions such as stroke and hypertension, she said.
“By getting ahead of the issue through our diagnostic tool, we prevent snoring, prevent OSA, prevent serious medical conditions from continuing,” said Rajakrishna.