U-M Receives Phase II Grant from the National Institutes of Health to Further Develop OTC Screening Device for Treating Sleep Apnea

ANN ARBOR - The University of Michigan's Sleep and Circadian Research Laboratory and Zansors, LLC recently received a $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to further develop an over-the-counter screening device for sleep apnea. Zansors, LLC is a health technology company based near Washington, D.C. The grant comes from the NIH's National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) for Phase II of their SBIR/STTR program. This is a continuation of a previously funded Phase I grant. The funds will be used to further develop research and then seek FDA approval for a wearable sleep product to screen for sleep apnea. More than 18 million adult Americans have sleep apnea, according to the National Sleep Foundation. Up to 80 percent of these cases may be undiagnosed. Untreated sleep apnea can lead to conditions from hypertension and heart disease to tiredness and depression. "With this funding, our aim is to significantly increase the screening of at-risk, under-served individuals by making identification of this sleep disorder easy and affordable for all," said J. Todd Arnedt, PhD, Director of the Sleep and Circadian Research Laboratory, which is part of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan and affiliated with the University of Michigan Sleep Disorders Center. [caption id="attachment_2470" align="alignright" width="214"]