Fabric face mask to help apnoea sufferers rest easy

Sleep apnoea sufferers will soon be able to rest easier at night with a new fabric mask, one of several innovations the ASX-listed medical devicemaker is introducing, its chief executive says.

The CPAP maker recently announced its revenue last quarter jumped 11 per cent to $US1.2 billion ($1.8 billion), with gross margins improving and income from operations rising by more than a third.

ResMed has also announced that it would launch its first fully fabric CPAP mask, the Airtouch N30i, made at the company's facility in Bella Vista, NSW, in select markets including Australia.

"We've been dreaming about tech like this for decades, and working specifically on this fabric technology for about a decade, and we're finally able to get it to ResMed quality standards," chief executive Mick Farrell told AAP.

"The way I put it is, you sleep on a bed, there's fabric, cotton fabric. You put your head on a pillow that's cotton or silk, so why would you put on a medical device that's plastic or rubber? And why cant we do better?"

A CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine uses gentle pressure to prevent sleep apnoea, a potentially serious disorder that occurs when someone's breathing stops and restarts while they sleep.

Mr Farrell said that because fabric is porous and doesn't have grip, it wasn't easy to make a sleep mask at a price point that made it affordable. It'll still be a higher priced item than regular CPAP sleep masks, he added.

"So let's see how the market responds to it."

ResMed has also launched apps for Samsung and Apple smart watches, building on both companies recently receiving regulatory clearance for their smart watches to detect sleep apnoea.

"You've now got two of the world's leading consumer tech companies out there talking about detection of sleep apnea - so ResMed then has to partner to help the patients, concierge them through sleep health," he said.

ResMed now has an AI-powered "health concierge" called Dawn, that can engage with users, asking them about their sleep quality and making suggestions on how to improve it -- including referring them to sleep care physicians who could diagnose sleep apnoea.

"We've seen 25 per cent of the people who engage in our site, engage with Dawn," Mr Farrell said.

"They start talking to it, and we've seen a 40 per cent reduction in the sort of basic questions to in-person humans, like, where do I find you, how can I get that? So it's improving outcomes while lowering costs."

Mr Farrell said there would be even more generative AI-powered innovations from ResMed in the coming years.

"All targeted to lower costs, improve outcomes, and help people sleep better, breathe better, get better technology at home," he said.