The Inspire ANTI SNORING Implant is a medical device that is implanted into the body for the treatment of snoring and obstructive anti snoring (OSA) syndrome.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome
Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome is a disease due to relapsing episodes of sleep apnea. This can be a condition where breathing stops for a lot more than 10 seconds, where oxygen saturation in the blood is reduced by more than 4%.
OSA syndrome occurs while asleep, when the muscles of upper airways relax, evoking the obstruction of the respiratory system. This leads to deterioration of blood oxygenation and provokes short unconscious wake-up episodes throughout the night. An unhealthy pattern of sleep places pressure on the body, causing increased blood pressure and development of severe diseases. The diseases due to OSA could be physical, such as hypertension, myocardium infarction and stroke. They could also be mental, including depression, chronic fatigue syndrome, lack of memory and concentration.
Before any treatment, a sleep study or a polysomnography is needed. The polysomnography calculates the apnea index, which is the frequency of apnea episodes during 1 hour of sleep and determines the severity of the disease. The apnea index is known as significant if you can find a lot more than 20 apnea episodes each hour, whatever the presence or lack of clinical symptoms.
The gold standard of treatment for OSA syndrome is CPAP-therapy. However, CPAP therapy isn’t for everyone as many people find it uncomfortable to sleep with the mask on the face and the machine itself can be loud, especially as it commonly sits near the head. Only 25% of patients can use CPAP-therapy for a long period of time.
Therefore, recently Inspire Medical Systems Inc. has think of a very effective solution with the Inspire ANTI SNORING Implant.
How The Inspire Sleep Apnea Implant Works
The Inspire Sleep Apnea Implant is really a battery operated device that promotes electrostimulation of the sublingual nerve. The battery life is approximately 10 years.
The main unit of this device is placed beneath the skin, on the front right side of the chest and it monitors the phase of breathing. ufa The other electrode is implanted for stimulation of the sublingual nerve, which creates muscle tension. This opens top of the airways and allows the tongue to stick out, and helps maintain the airways open while asleep.
In addition to the two electrodes, this product also includes a handy small remote switch, that actually turns on these devices before sleep and switches it off once awake. This disables the electrodes from disturbing the processes of communication and eating through the active phase of the day, whenever a person needs physiological narrowing of the larynx and tongue movements for these procedures.
The individual may feel light involuntary contractions of the larynx, or tongue movements during initial usage of these devices. These movements do not cause pain, instead only a minor discomfort. These unpleasant effects disappear after the first few uses of the device.
Generally, the implant ought to be checked 1 or 2 2 times per year. However, depending on situation, an Inspire therapy-trained doctor may consult patients pretty much often.
The Inspire ANTI SNORING Implant is only ideal for:
Patients who are more than 22 years old.
Patients who have been diagnosed with moderate or severe obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.
Patients with an apnea index in the number of 20 to 65.
Patients who are uncomfortable with using CPAP therapy or didn’t have the desired effect.
Patients with a body mass index of significantly less than 32.
Body mass index (BMI) = weight (kg) / height^2 (m2).
An individual with a weight of 80 kg and a height of 170 cm has
BMI = 80kg / (1.7m ^ 2) = 80 / 2.89 = 27.68 kg/ m2
The Inspire Sleep Apnea Implant could potentially replace CPAP therapy as ‘the gold standard’ of treatment for obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. A study by Dr. Ryan J. et al. shows that after implantation of the Inspire Sleep Apnea Implant, snoring is greatly decreased. A share of “no” or “soft” snoring changed from 22% at start of the treatment to 88% at 12 months and 91% at 24 months after the treatment. Also, the apnea index was reduced from 31 to 14. 82% of the patients in the study reported a nightly usage of this therapy for five years. Therefore, it is evident that this method is highly effective and simple to use!
