Expandable snoring implant
AssigneeRestore Medical, Inc.
InventorsTimothy R. Conrad, Mark B. Knudson, Jerry C. Griffin
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for treating snoring of a patient includes providing an implant for altering a dynamic response of a soft palate of the patient to airflow past the soft palate. The implant is embedded in the soft palate to alter the dynamic response. For example, the implant has a mass, stiffness or dampening sufficient to alter the dynamic response following the implantation without substantially impairing a function of the soft palate to close a nasal passage of the patient during swallowing.
Claims24
A method for treating snoring of a patient, said method comprising:
- selecting an implant dimensioned so as to be implanted into a soft palate of said patient, said implant formed of a flexible material formed to define an implant perimeter having a rest geometry and defining an internal area when said implant is at rest, said implant having mechanical characteristics for said implant, at least in combination with a fibrotic tissue response induced by said implant, to alter a dynamic response of said soft palate to air flow past said soft palate without application of force external to said soft palate;
- collapsing said implant to a collapsed state to narrow said implant perimeter;
- implanting said implant in said collapsed state into said soft palate with said implant in contact with living tissue within said soft palate;
- permitting said implant to expand toward said rest state within said soft palate;
- leaving said implant within said soft palate.
An apparatus for treating snoring of a patient suffering from snoring attributable, at least in part, to a snoring-sound-generating oscillation of a soft palate of said patient in response to airflow past said soft palate and where said soft palate has a characteristic dynamic response to said airflow prior to treatment, said apparatus comprising:
- an implant of bio-compatible material dimensioned so as to be implanted into said soft palate, said implant formed of a flexible material formed to define an implant perimeter having a rest geometry and surrounding an internal area when said implant is at rest, said implant having mechanical characteristics for said implant, at least in combination with a fibrotic tissue response induced by said implant, to alter said dynamic response of said soft palate to air flow past said soft palate without application of force external to said soft palate;
- said implant collapsible to a collapsed state to narrow said implant perimeter during implantation into said soft palate and expandable within said soft palate toward said rest geometry.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.