Colin Sullivan is an Australian physician, professor, and inventor known for his invention of the nasal
Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) circuit, made of continuous flow machine and vented nasal mask, in June 1980.
Sullivan’s development of the nasal CPAP was a product of his long-term interest in the
upper respiratory airway and its role in
SIDS
Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the sudden unexplained death of a child of less than one year of age. Diagnosis requires that the death remain unexplained even after a thorough autopsy and detailed death scene investigation. SIDS usuall ...
(aka crib death or cot death).
Prior to the invention of the nasal CPAP machine
sleep apnea was often treated with radical measures such as
tracheotomy.
In 2009 Prof. Sullivan was awarded an
Officer of the Order of Australia Award for "service to medicine as an innovator in the field of sleep disorders and the development of equipment and treatment practices".
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, Colin
Living people
20th-century Australian inventors
Sydney Medical School alumni
Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science
Year of birth missing (living people)
Australian paediatricians