Problem Statement:

Brad Postier and the rest of the NED team have created a nasal insert called Nasal EPAP Dilation Device (NED) that is to be worn during sleeping and that is meant to reduce snoring. Now that the NED team has a quality design of their inserts, they want to create consistency in their product and evaluation of quality standards. The NOSE team of Cassandra Davis, Nick Kasparie and Taylor Pemberton has been tasked in creating a system that will allow the NED team to test for the specific metrics relevant to their IP of the design (briefly mentioned under Our Client). Thus, for their Senior Capstone at Washington University in St. Louis these three Dual Degree Seniors will take on the project of creating a NOSE for the NED!

Need

There is a need by the developers of NED (Nasal EPAP Dilator), for an artificial breathing system to test their nasal inserts by recreating natural breathing mechanics and recording pressure data in order to evaluate NED’s effectiveness of creating more positive pressures upon exhalation and decreased negative pressures upon inhalation.

Project Scope

In order to meet the need of our client, our group will develop a system that mimics breathing mechanics in order to test if the NED device impedes nasal exhalation sufficiently. The system needs to measure the pressure differences of inhalation and exhalation from a designated baseline over the course of multiple breathing cycles. The device will be able to record and export data for comparative analysis with and without the NED device. In May, we will deliver a prototype of the artificial breathing system that meets the requirements.