An orthotic obstructive sleep apnea treatment device is provided that includes a hyoid bone attachment element disposed to attach a ferric element to a hyoid bone, where the ferric element is disposed to face along a treatment vector from the hyoid bone, and the treatment vector is oriented relative to a sagittal plane of a human. The orthotic obstructive sleep apnea treatment device further includes an external orthotic neck device having a contoured housing with a shape disposed to conform about a neck of the human subject, where the housing includes a force delivery element disposed at an exterior-front neck region of the human subject and is disposed to provide an attractive force to the ferric element along the treatment vector. A force sensor is disposed to measure a force exerted on the hyoid bone, a skin contact pressure, tissue compression between the ferric element and the force delivery element.