Sleep apnoea study ‘milestone’ for treatment access
by Guy Hiscott
A new sleep apnoea device from medical device company Imthera Medical will be tested on its first two patients.
The patients have been implanted with the company’s Aura6000 system as part of a randomised, controlled, prospective, multicentre clinical trial being conducted in the US and Europe.
‘Too many patients are left untreated or undertreated by the currently available therapies for obstructive sleep apnoea, and until now we’ve had very little to offer them,’ stated principal investigator Alan Schwartz, professor of medicine and medical director of Johns Hopkins Sleep Disorders Center at Bayview in Baltimore, Maryland, USA in a press release.
According to the company, the therapy stimulates the hypoglossal nerve, developing muscle tone of multiple tongue muscles and preventing the tongue from collapsing into the upper airway during sleep.
The president and CEO of Imthera Medical, Marcelo Lima, stated that the trial is a ‘major milestone’ for treatment availability.
