med-techs vie in sleep-apnea marketSuddenly, the Twin Cities seems like a hotbed for research into implantable devices that might tame sleep apnea.
Inspire Medical Systems of Brooklyn Park says it expects to begin implants in the United States this month of an investigational medical device designed to use electrical stimulation to prevent the closure of the upper airway while people sleep.
Such a treatment, the company hopes, could help people with obstructive sleep apnea — a common condition in which recurrent blockages of the upper airway can disrupt a patient's sleep, reduce oxygen levels in the blood and contribute to other health problems.
Hennepin County Medical Center is one of a handful of U.S. hospitals that will be part of a government-approved study to test the company's device in a small group of patients, Timothy Herbert, the president of Inspire Medical Systems, said Monday.
Last month, officials with Roseville-based Apnex Medical — a startup that's also developing a "neuromodulation" device for sleep-apnea patients — said they expected doctors outside the United States would perform the first implant with their investigational system this quarter.
The technology behind Inspire Medical's device was first developed at Medtronic, where Herbert worked on the project. The startup was formed in 2007 when the intellectual property and technology behind Medtronic's device was licensed and spun out to Inspire Medical.
"At the time, this is something (Medtronic
wasn't) focused on," Herbert said.
Medtronic maintains a minority ownership position, he said, and provides contract manufacturing to Inspire Medical Systems.
The sleep-apnea devices of both companies consist of a pulse generator that is surgically implanted in the chest and a wire that delivers electrical stimulation to the hypoglossal nerve in the neck. That nerve leads to the tongue.
Inspire Medical's device uses a pressure sensor to monitor a patient's respiratory effort during sleep so that nerve stimulation can be timed to match respiration. Patients are given a programming device to turn the system on at bedtime and off during nonsleep hours.
The stimulation is sufficient to trigger a nerve response but not so great that it disturbs a patient's sleep.
Beyond Inspire Medical and Apnex Medical, a Canadian company called Victhom Human Bionics Inc. also is developing technology for a neuromodulation device to help sleep apnea patients.
Apnex Medical says it has been backed so far by $16 million in private-equity financing; Inspire Medical did not say how much money it has raised.