Cuddly Robot That Cures Snoring!

The robot which is shaped like a polar bear essentially listens for snoring while monitoring oxygen levels of the snorer. The individual sleeps on this robotic bear. When oxygen levels drop coupled with snoring heard through its microphone, the robot lifts its paw and tickles the forehead which induces the snoring individual to shift position resulting in snore cessation all without actually waking the individual. Watch video below.

Of course, there's no studies I'm aware of that actually determines whether this works or not, but the concept is sound.

The robot was developed in Japan in Tokyo's Waseda University and was unveiled during the International Robot Show, but not yet commercially available.

The name of the robotic bear is "Jukusui-Kun".

Read more about this here.

New Video on "Where" Snoring Comes From and Treatment

Our office has produced a new video describing "where" snoring comes from determined by a simple procedure known as sedated or sleep endoscopy.

At its most basic definition, snoring is noise produced from a vibrating mucosal surface in the upper airway.

Though snoring can be defined simply, the tough question is WHERE are these vibrating mucosal surfaces? Because unless one can define WHERE the snoring is coming from, successful treatment can't be pursued definitively.

An office exam performed while a patient is awake is suboptimal as the patient is awake... and not snoring. As such, it is an educated guess where the snoring problem is stemming from.

To this end, there are three main levels where snoring can be produced and the best way to localize a snore is to perform the exam while the patient is asleep (induced by anesthesia) and snoring!

1) Nose
2) Mouth
3) Throat
4) All of the above

Watch the video to see how each of these areas can contribute to a person's snore as well as treatment options.

Snore Absorption Hotel Rooms

First hypoallergenic hotel rooms and now "snore absorption" hotel rooms. No kidding...

Crowne Plaza hotels have debuted on a trial basis specially designed hotel rooms to absorb the sounds of snoring. These hotel rooms utilize many different methods to accomplish this including:

• Sound proofing on walls to absorb the loud frequencies, deflect the sound waves and minimise the impact of snoring. The walls use egg box style foam which reduces the noise reverberating in the room
• A specially designed sound absorbing head board that will work together with the sound proof walling to muffle the echo within the room
• An anti-snoring bed wedge which acts as a body pillow, encouraging snoring guests to sleep on their sides or upright. Lying flat on your back makes the base of the tongue and soft palate collapse to the back wall of the throat which causes snoring
• An anti-snoring pillow which uses rare neodymium magnets to create a natural magnetic field, opening the airways and stiffening the upper palate which vibrates during snoring
• A white noise machine which is proven to help drown out the droning snoring noise and help sleep and relaxation

These specially designed rooms are being trialled in nine Crowne Plaza hotels across Europe and the Middle East.

Of course, there are a variety of surgical methods that can potentially cure a person's snore to make such rooms unnecessary.

Read more about these rooms here.

Read more about snoring treatments here.