Colin Sullivan (physician)

Colin Sullivan PhD, BSc (Med), MB, FRACP 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 (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.