Leading global retailer Amazon has filed a patent for a smart pillow aimed at treating obstructive sleep apnea, a sleep disorder that affects an estimated 936 million people worldwide.
Amazon describes it as a automated sleep assistant and promises it will reduce snoring — one of the main symptoms of sleep apnea — by moving the sleeper’s head position to open up congested airways while they sleep.
A release date and price is yet to be announced and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved the device for sleep apnea detection yet, but the inventors at Amazon Technologies are confident their device can help those with sleep apnea.
- Read more: Sleep apnea experts weigh in on the Apple Watch's latest health feature — here's the verdict
What is the Amazon Smart Pillow for Sleep?
According to the tech giant, existing obstructive sleep apnea solutions like continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines, oral appliances, like mouthguards, and neck implants are expensive, invasive and inconvenient. So, they’ve taken action and transformed the humble pillow into a smart, snoring-detecting-and-reducing device.
From the outside, the Amazon Smart Pillow would look like any other top-rated pillow on the market. But inside it will be packed with machine learning models to detect snoring and other sound patterns.
It would then determine if they are caused by a blocked airway or other circumstances, such as narrowed sinus passages. Then, it would initiate the appropriate response.
Will it be able to detect sleep apnea symptoms?
One of the main symptoms of sleep apnea is snoring because the sleep disorder narrows or blocks the airway, which forces air to squeeze through and vibrate the tissues in the throat.
According to the patent documents, the new automatic sleep assistant pillow will be able to detect snoring. It will be attached to a base unit that automatically inflates specific air bladders within the pillow as needed to manipulate the user's head position to open the airway and improve breathing pattern.
The pillow is accompanied by a separate audio input device that would capture sounds emitted by the user during sleep. Motion data would also be collected from sensors in the pillow and analyzed to identify movement associated with sleep disruptions.
- Read more: How to sleep with election night anxiety
When will it be available to buy?
A release date is yet to be announced but Amazon Technologies submitted the patent this October.
What are anti-snoring pillows and do they actually work?
From anti-snoring devices and improving daytime habits to investing in the best mattress for your sleep position, there are many ways to reduce snoring. Many anti-snoring pillows are made with polyurethane, the building block of memory foam. It's strong enough to keep you in position, and it provides neck support for comfort.
Some of these pillows are designed to make it more comfortable to sleep with a CPAP machine, a common sleep apnea treatment. Others are designed to keep your head in a specific position that helps to clear your airways and reduce snoring.
While they are not guaranteed to work for everyone, many people say standard anti-snoring pillows are effective. Especially those with mild to moderate snoring caused by poor airway alignment or sleep position.
However, they may not be as effective for severe snoring or sleep apnea. Hence why Amazon's smart pillow specifically targeting sleep apnea is good news for people with the sleep disorder.
