The standard therapy for Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) that is delivered by a medical air pump into a nasal mask worn by the patient while sleeping. This effectively dilates the upper airway, preventing its collapse, thus providing the patients with a normal breathing pattern and an uninterrupted sleep. For many patients this therapy dramatically improves their daytime functioning as well as their general health.

The major obstacle for most patients to overcome is becoming accustomed to the CPAP system. Approximately 20% of patients never learn to tolerate it and a substantial proportion of the other have a hard time using it regularly.

Kribbs et al reported in the American Journal of Respiratory Diseases in 1993 that only 6% of the 35 CPAP patients studied used CPAP 70% of the time for 7 hours or greater, suggesting that frequent, long duration usage of nasal CPAP is a rare occurrence in OSA. Efforts to enhance CPAP use are needed especially early in treatment to reduce the significant nature of the disorder and death associated with OSA.