King's College London

The trial is funded by a £1.48 million grant from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), awarded to spin-out company Zeus Sleep Ltd – a partnership between King’s, Guy’s and St Thomas’, and Morgan Innovation & Technology.

The Zeus anti-snoring device is already available to buy in the UK and helping poor sleepers and their partners. The company is now preparing to launch a medical version of the device for OSA in early 2026, informed by the results of the new NIHR-funded trial and supported by evidence from three earlier clinical studies led by King’s and Guy’s and St Thomas’.

The new trial will involve the King’s Clinical Trial Unit, which will provide randomisation and statistical support for the trial.

OSA affects an estimated 8 million people in the UK and more than a billion worldwide. The condition occurs when airflow is repeatedly reduced or stopped during sleep, leading to poor sleep quality, excessive tiredness, cardiovascular risks, and higher accident rates.

The NHS currently prescribes Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) as the gold standard treatment, which uses a machine to deliver a flow of air through a mask worn while the patient is sleeping. However, over half of patients stop using CPAP within a year due to discomfort and inconvenience, leaving many with little more than lifestyle advice as a fallback.

The ZeusOSA device offers a breakthrough. Worn under the chin at night, it uses gentle electrical pulses to stimulate the hypoglossal nerve, helping keep the upper airway open. Unlike surgical implants, it is non-invasive, user-friendly, and affordable – with the potential to transform both patient outcomes and NHS efficiency.

The idea behind the device stemmed from Professor Steier’s research at King’s, which began during his PhD in the lab of Professor John Moxham.

Professor Steier said: “We came up with the idea that we could use transcutaneous electrical stimulation in OSA (TESLA) to activate the muscles we have in the upper airway that typically relax when we go to sleep. This relaxation causes the upper airway to become collapsible, causing us to snore or, even worse, hold our breath, leading to the development of obstructive sleep apnoea.”

The team went on to test their idea in a proof-of-concept clinical study, followed by two randomised controlled clinical trials, delivering electrical pulses to keep sleeping participants’ upper airway open using a transcutaneous electrical neurostimulation (TENS) machine. The latest of the trials, the TESLA-HOME trial, showed use of TENS improved nocturnal breathing and significantly reduced daytime symptoms like sleepiness in participants, demonstrating its potential for patients who do not respond well to CPAP.

In parallel, the team has been working to develop the Zeus device as a discreet, light-weight option to deliver TENS.

Nigel Clarke, CEO of Zeus Sleep Ltd, said: “This is a proud moment for our team. Our snoring device is already improving lives, and now, thanks to NIHR funding and our clinical partners, we can build the evidence needed to bring a medical version into the NHS for patients with obstructive sleep apnoea. Our aim is simple: to help people sleep better, feel better, and live better.”