The present invention provides an apparatus and a method for supporting an airway of a subject. An aspect of the present invention proposes an apparatus (10) for supporting an airway of a subject, comprising a body (110) configured to enclose one or more external orifices of the airway of the subject, wherein the body forms at least one flow path between the one or more external orifices and the ambient atmosphere an electrical valve (120) disposed in the flow path for exhalation, wherein the flow resistance of the electrical valve is kept constant during inhalation and can be adjusted during exhalation a sensor (130) configured to sense snoring of the subject and output a corresponding signal and a control module (140) connected to the sensor, wherein the control module is configured to sample the signal outputted from the sensor and detect the presence and level of snoring based on the sampled signal at predetermined time points, control the electrical valve to be triggered from a low flow resistance to a high flow resistance which is maintained until the next predetermined time point for supporting the airway of the subject once it has been detected that snoring is present at a certain predetermined time point, and control the electrical valve to adjust the flow resistance in accordance with the presence and level of snoring at the following predetermined time points to obtain a best-fit flow resistance for the subject. Thus, the flow resistance of the electrical valve is automatically fine-tuned to obtain a best-fit flow resistance in accordance with the presence and level of snoring during exhalation, so that the comfort of a subject can be greatly improved.
