New tongue stimulating implant first offers hope to millions of people with sleep apnea in Britain
Patients with a common sleep disorder have been fitted with an app-controlled device that zaps the nerves in the tongue to help them breathe at night in Britain.
Sleep apnea causes breathing to stop repeatedly during sleep and is thought to affect around 8 million people in Britain.
The most common form – obstructive sleep apnea – occurs when the walls of the throat relax and become narrow or closed, with symptoms including choking sounds, loud snoring and frequent waking.
The three-hour procedure to insert Nyxoah’s Genio implant was carried out this month by medics from University College London Hospitals NHS foundation trust (UCLH).
One of the two patients, Natalie Boller, 63, felt better within days and will return to the clinic in the coming weeks to have the device activated.
She told news agency PA Media that she was looking forward to being more active, something that has helped her fatigue.
It comes as UCLH became the first center in the UK to offer sleep apnea patients a choice of nerve stimulators: the Genio or Inspire implant.
Both devices stimulate the hypoglossal nerve, which controls the muscles in the tongue and may be an alternative to continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines.
CPAP machines are the first line of treatment for sleep apnea, in which patients wear a mask that blows pressurized air into the nose and throat while they sleep. However, it can be uncomfortable.
Consultant ENT and sleep surgeon Ryan Chin Taw Cheong said: “I’m very optimistic about the way things are developing, and I hope we can create this technology and make this implant more available to the right patients.”
During her surgery, surgeons made a 6cm incision under Boller’s chin and used a microscope to locate the nerves that cause the tongue to protrude.
The stimulator is controlled by an external chip that is stuck to the chin with an adhesive plaster before the patient goes to sleep.
During the day, the patch can be removed and the chip charged, while patients can adjust the stimulation level and track their sleep via a smartphone app.
Patients eligible for the implants must have moderate to very severe sleep apnea, a body mass index of less than 35, and must have tried using a CPAP machine.
Cheong added: “We hope to really advance this field and offer these treatment options. So when a patient comes to our clinics, they can feel confident and assured that they are getting access to the best sleep apnea treatment in the world.”