Device for suppressing snoring

#The present invention relates to a device for suppressing snoring by a patient who is susceptible to episodes of sleep apnea.

#It is known that snoring is the result of an increase in the flowrate of the air in the upper airways of said patient, this increased flowrate itself being the result of an increase in the resistance to the passage of the air in said upper airways due to the narrowness of these during sleep. This narrowness is a result of insufficient activation of the dilator muscles of the upper airways during sleep.

#Thus, in order to cure a patient'snoring, attempts have hitherto been made to restore the tone of said dilator muscles by surgery. This involved performing a major and invasive operation, which did not always have a successful outcome.

#The figures in the attached drawing will show clearly how the invention can be realized. In these figures, identical reference numbers designate similar elements.

#FIG. 1 is a side view of an illustrative embodiment of the device according to the present invention.

#FIG. 2 is a plan view and FIG. 3 a front view of the device in FIG. 1.

#The device 1 according to the present invention, and illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 5, is intended to suppress snoring by a patient who is susceptible to episodes of sleep apnea, when it is used by said patient during sleep, in the manner illustrated diagrammatically in FIG. 6. This device 1 comprises a curved tubular body 2 with a solid wall provided with a multiplicity of lateral holes 3. The tubular body 2, which is made for example of a synthetic material, has an oblong cross section (FIG. 4), such that its wall has an upper flat surface 4 and a lower flat surface 5.

#At its proximal end, the tubular body 2 is provided with a projecting peripheral stop flange 6, itself optionally provided with holes 7 analogous to the holes 3.

#Furthermore, in proximity to the stop flange 6, the tubular body 2 is shaped so as to present a support zone 8, for example laterally widened and opening into said flange 6 by way of a wide proximal opening 9.