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. The implant has multiple fibers braided along a length of the implant. The braid includes unbonded ends and air-textured yarns.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/602,141 filed Jun. 23, 2000 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,390,096 which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 09/513,432 and 09/513,039 filed Feb. 25, 2000, now U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,450,169 and 6,415,796, respectively, which are continuations-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/434,653 filed on Nov. 5, 1999 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,401,717 which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/398,991 filed Sep. 17, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,250,307 and with priority being claimed to all of the fore-going
A method and apparatus for treating a condition of a patient's airway includes identifying a patient with obstructive sleep apnea and identifying a muscle of a tongue of the patient. A first brace is implanted within the tongue at a first implant location near the top of the tongue. A second brace is implanted within the tongue at a second implant location below the upper location. The first and second braces are connected to compress the muscle group.
According to one aspect of the present invention, an apparatus and related kit are disclosed for treating an airway condition of a patient. A cartridge apparatus is disclosed for use in treating an airway condition of a patient and for use in combination with a handle sized to be hand-grasped by an operator and having an actuator mechanism to be selectively actuated by said operator. The cartridge includes a implant of biocompatible material sized to be embedded within a tissue of the airway. A needle has a distal tip for penetrating into the tissue. The needle has an axially extending bore. The implant is disposed within the bore at the distal tip. The cartridge has a proximal end adapted to be coupled to the handle for the implant to be ejected from the distal tip upon actuation of the actuator. The kit of the invention includes a container including a plurality of such cartridges.
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. The implant has multiple fibers braided along a length of the implant.
A method for treating a patient diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea includes identifying a patient as having sleep apnea susceptible to a first positive airway treatment which is at a first operating pressure level in excess of that which is otherwise tolerable to the patient. The patient is treated with an airway treatment selected to alter a portion of an airway tissue of the patient. The patient is then treated with a second positive airway pressure treatment at a second pressure level, which is below the pressure threshold.
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.
