Since 1981, when obstructive sleep apnea was shown to be treated successfully by an electromechanical device, there has been an increasing concentration of medical research on this disorder and its consequences. The combination of all the occurrences of sleep disordered breathing presents a potential market of 20 million Americans, growing at a rate of 20 percent per year. Yet the market remains untapped, for the most part. Adverse consequences from OSA manifest in a variety of ways, including sleep deprivation, which causes daytime fatigue and accidents, and activation of the sympathetic nervous system, which leads to hypertension. And, certain medical conditions can lead to OSA. Doctors believe that as many as 90 percent of morbidly obese individuals suffer from OSA. Of course they would, because,…