Diagnostic tool and therapeutic methods for sleep respiratory issues via a positional therapy ear device using audible notification

An ear device comprising:

• a positional sensor including one or more of an accelerometer, a gyroscope, an inertial measurement unit, and a magnetometer;
• a speaker that is positioned proximate to or within an auditory canal of an ear of a user when worn by the user;
• a processor;
• and
• instructions that when executed by the processor cause the ear device to:
• establish a positional sleep therapy alert zone with reference to the positional sensor;
• during a sleep session, determine whether a sleep position of the user is within the positional sleep therapy alert zone based on a state of the positional sensor;
• and
• responsive to an affirmative determination, provide an alert to the user in a form of an audible notification via the speaker.

A method comprising:

• logging a plurality of observations regarding existence or non-existence of an incident of breathing cessation and one or more of:
• an orientation of a head of a user of an ear device in three-dimensional (3D) space, a breathing rate of the user, a heart rate of the user, a snoring state of the user, and an oxygen saturation of blood of the user by performing repeated measurements over time of a plurality of sensors associated with the ear device worn by the user during a sleep session;
• and
• identifying the user as potentially having a sleep respiratory issue by evaluating the plurality of observations.