Patent ID: 7819823

Claim:
An apparatus for detecting an onset of an obstructive sleep apnea event before cessation of breathing occurs, said apparatus comprising: at least two microphones adapted to be acoustically associated with a person, wherein said at least two microphones are configured to detect breathing sounds within an airway of a neck of said person and to generate microphone signals representative of said breathing sounds, wherein said at least two microphones are attached to a collar worn around the neck of the person; and a controller operatively coupled to the at least two microphones, the controller configured to, while the person is sleeping: receive said microphone signals, compare said microphone signals to at least one signal pattern stored in a memory, the at least one signal pattern associated with a breathing pattern of said person that occurs at the onset of the obstructive sleep apnea event, and trigger an alarm signal if said microphone signals indicate, based on the comparison with the at least one signal pattern, an onset of an obstructive sleep apnea event.