Australian sleep apnoea specialist, Oventus Medical has this week opened a brand new 3D printing facility to help advance its research into solutions for snoring.
Building on their existing partnership, Oventus’ new facility will be based on the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation’s (CSIRO) Clayton, Victoria campus. Oventus will continue to work on its O2Vent device, a 3D-printed, customisable mouthguard which is designed to optimise the intake of air and reduce snoring.
The O2Vent has been in development for three years, with the initial prototype being printed using CSIRO’s 3D printing facility, Lab22. During this process, the device completed several clinical trials, testing its performance, durability and comfort within a human mouth.
Oventus’ signature technology supports the intake of air through the mouth. Delivering oxygen to the back of the mouth, the O2Vent alleviates multiple sites of obstruction including the nose, soft palate and tongue. It is estimated over one million people in Australia alone could benefit from the device, with many more suffering from sleep apnoea around the world.
Oventus Medical
Oventus Medical O2Vent
Oventus will continue to work on its O2Vent device, a 3D-printed, customisable mouthguard which is designed to optimise the intake of air and reduce snoring.
The new 3D printing facility will allow Oventus to ramp up the research and production of such technologies which can suppress the effects of sleep apnoea. Dr Keith McLaren, CSIRO Research Director of CSIRO Manufacturing, believes the collaboration with Oventus will encourage innovation in 3D design and production processes, and thus the treatment of sufferers of sleep apnoea.
“Combining our research team’s additive manufacturing experience with the software capabilities of CSIRO’s Data61, meant we could create a one-stop in-house process for making personalised mouth pieces that are individualised for each Oventus customer,” said McLaren. “Additionally, we have been able to help Oventus upscale their manufacturing process to allow large volume manufacturing of the devices at the Clayton facility.”
Sleep apnoea, caused by excessive snoring, can lead to other, more serious, problems, such as high blood pressure, stroke, irregular heartbeats, heart attacks and diabetes, making the proper treatment all the more important.
