Devices, systems and methods for the treatment of sleep apnea
AssigneeLumen Devices, LLC
InventorsMichael Friedman, John N. Irwin, III, William J. Gorman, John T. Garibotto, J. Christopher Flaherty
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A medical appliance for the treatment of one or more sleep disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea in a patient, the appliance comprising: a biasing member for inserting behind and exerting a force upon the patient's soft palate or tongue, wherein the biasing member is inserted in a reduced or minimized form and then expanded or firms once in place to exert the force. The appliance may be nasally inserted or be placed through the mouth. In a particular configuration, both the soft palate and tongue are biased to prevent obstruction of the flow of air in the nasopharyngeal airway.
Claims31
A medical appliance for a patient comprising:
- a tubular body comprising a proximal end, a distal end, and a lumen therethrough;
- a plunger comprising a plunger head portion;
- and
- a biasing member in contact with the plunger head portion;
- wherein the biasing member is disposed within the tubular body,
- wherein the biasing member is expelled via the distal end upon activation of the plunger head portion, and
- wherein the biasing member exerts a force upon a soft palate and/or a base of a tongue of the patient.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.