Nasal Airway Obstructor for Bruxism Treatment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current treatments for sleep bruxism are ineffective as they often disturb the user or their bed partner and fail to address the unconscious nature of nocturnal clenching and grinding, which are hallmarks of the condition.
Innovation Solution
A device that utilizes a clench sensor and nasal airway obstructor to block nasal respiration during jaw clenching, leveraging the physiological reflex that causes the mouth to open when the nasal airway is blocked, allowing for oral respiration and preventing teeth grinding while unconscious.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If biofeedback devices are used to wake the user to cease clenching behavior, then some effectiveness is achieved, but the user's sleep is disturbed and bed partners are disturbed without waking the user
Solution Approach 1:
The invention converts the harmful effect of nasal airway blockage (which normally causes mouth opening and interrupts sleep) into a beneficial treatment mechanism. By intentionally blocking the nasal airway during bruxism episodes, the device triggers the physiological reflex that opens the mouth and stops clenching, while allowing the user to remain asleep. This transforms what would normally be a disruptive event into a therapeutic intervention that eliminates the harmful clenching behavior without the negative side effects of traditional biofeedback devices.
2Reliability
If nasal airway is blocked to trigger mouth opening reflex, then clenching behavior is stopped, but safety concerns arise regarding unconscious airway blockage
Solution Approach 1:
The device dynamically adjusts the nasal airway blockage based on real-time detection of clenching behavior. The nasal airway obstructor remains inactive during normal sleep, allowing free nasal breathing. When bruxism is detected via the clench sensor, the device activates to block the nasal airway, triggering the mouth-opening reflex. After the clenching episode ends, the device deactivates and restores normal nasal breathing. This dynamic, on-demand approach ensures safety by limiting airway blockage only to the brief periods when bruxism occurs, rather than maintaining continuous blockage.
Solution Approach 2:
The device employs a closed-loop feedback system where the clench sensor continuously monitors for bruxism episodes and provides real-time feedback to control the nasal airway obstructor. When clenching is detected, the feedback signal activates the nasal airway blockage mechanism. When clenching stops, the feedback signal deactivates the mechanism, restoring normal breathing. This feedback-controlled approach ensures that nasal airway blockage occurs only when necessary to stop bruxism, maintaining safety while achieving therapeutic effectiveness.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The device effectively reduces bruxism symptoms by preventing unconscious teeth grinding without waking the user, using a clench sensor and nasal airway obstructor that communicate through various mechanisms, ensuring safe and effective operation during sleep.
Implementation Method 1
a clench sensor... The sensor can communicate the clenching behavior to the nasal airway obstructor
Implementation Method 2
The invention is based on the physiological reflex that causes the human body to open the mouth when the nasal airway is blocked
Data Source
AI summary
Bruxism, which is a human medical condition characterized by clenching of the jaw and/or grinding of teeth, leads to conditions such as severe tooth wear and Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) Disorder. Described herein is a biofeedback device that utilizes the human physiological reflex to open the mouth when the nasal airway is obstructed. The device and method blocks the nasal airway while clenching, but allows nasal respiration while not clenching. Clenching of the jaw and breathing through the mouth cannot happen simultaneously while unconscious.