SONOSA Medical Inc.
Detecting and Treating Obstructive Sleep Apnea
THE TEAM
Jeffrey Wolf, MD
Otorhinolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery
Stephen Restaino, PhD
Director of Engineering
About 43 million people in the US and more than 450 million worldwide suffer from Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), a dangerous condition associated with a range of severe comorbidities including heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
MDC Partner Jeffrey Wolf MD and Amal Isaiah MD, ENT-Otolaryngologists at the University of Maryland School of Medicine invented the SONOSA device for detection of OSA during sleep. SONOSA Medical has licensed the SONOSA device from the University of Maryland and is developing it as a product for the diagnosis and treatment of OSA. The SONOSA device uses ultrasound imaging to create an image of the patient’s airway while they are sleeping (at home). The result provides unprecedented clarity for clinical intervention.
SONOSA Medical is funded by DARPA and the Maryland Development Center.
Airway collapse causing a sleep apnea event. Sensing low blood oxygen level the brain arouses the sleeper allowing a breath. The collapse and arousal process continues through the night. In severe cases there can be more than 30 events an hour.