SAN FRANCISCO, July 19 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. startup is working to tap into the huge Chinese market for its medical device that helps chronic nerve pain patients fall asleep.

Sana Health, a Colorado-based company, has produced a "smart goggle" that uses audio-visual stimulation to trigger specific patterns in the brain and generates the patterns one's brain needs in order to produce deep states of relaxation.

"The device can reduce all types of pain and it works particularly well for those suffering severe or chronic pain," said Richard Hanbury, founder and CEO of Sana Health, on Friday while visiting San Francisco for an entrepreneurial contest.

Hanbury said the goal of participating in the contest, organized by a Chinese company, was to "get exposure" in China and find potential partners.

One in three adults in the United States doesn't get enough sleep, according to the most recent available data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Insomniacs suffer mood and memory impairments, among other undesirable effects, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have found.

Apart from the American market, Hanbury identified a major market opportunity in China because there's a lack of mental health professionals in the country.

He began working on this goggle-based technology to save his own life from the ravages of chronic nerve damage pain after surviving a major car accident in 1992, which severed his spinal cord and resulted in pain.

Then he chose to invent something to put himself into restorative sleep. In the process he found the patterns necessary to reliably induce sleep.

After spending 26 years improving the technology, Hanbury said the device is now as small as a padded goggle, compared with two desktop computers in the earliest tests.

"Now, users can use the device anytime and anywhere," he said. The company is now in the process of approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a medical device.

Once the device is approved by the FDA, it will be relatively easy to go through the Chinese regulatory process because of the cooperation between the two countries, said Hanbury.

The company has tested 14 prototypes on more than 700 users so far. It also received funding from the hardware startup accelerator HAX in China's Shenzhen and is an alumnus of the accelerator.

Hanbury said the company needs to spend more time understanding the distribution channels and he hoped to be connected with distributors in China through the contest.

"Potential markets include hotels and hospitals," he said. Enditem

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