Soft Palate Radiofrequency Remodeling to Prevent Airway Collapse
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing treatments for snoring and sleep apnea, such as invasive surgery and CPAP masks, are either ineffective or uncomfortable, leading to poor patient compliance, while less invasive methods often fail to address the underlying tissue issues causing airway obstruction.
Innovation Solution
Devices and methods that deliver energy to the soft palate using bipolar radiofrequency electrode pairs to reshape, remodel, strengthen, and change the properties of soft palate tissues, such as muscle and mucosa, to prevent collapse and vibration during breathing, potentially reducing snoring and sleep apnea.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If invasive surgery is performed to remove portions of the tongue and/or throat or place mechanical slings or other implants, then airway patency is improved, but patient comfort and compliance deteriorate due to invasiveness and obtrusiveness
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical surgical interventions (tissue removal, implants, slings) with energy-based tissue remodeling. Radiofrequency energy or other energy forms are used to heat and remodel soft palate tissue, achieving airway patency improvement without mechanical intrusion or implants.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical state of soft palate tissue by applying energy to heat and remodel the tissue properties. This alters tissue characteristics (such as collagen structure, elasticity, and firmness) to maintain airway patency during sleep, providing a non-invasive alternative to surgical intervention.
2Ease of operation
If less invasive techniques such as adhesive nasal strips are used, then patient comfort is improved, but treatment effectiveness deteriorates because they fail to address underlying tissue issues
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces superficial mechanical support (nasal strips) with energy-based tissue remodeling that addresses the root cause of airway collapse. By delivering energy directly to the soft palate tissue, the treatment fundamentally alters tissue properties rather than providing temporary external support.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary tissue remodeling before sleep occurs, permanently or semi-permanently altering soft palate tissue properties to prevent collapse during sleep. This proactive approach addresses underlying tissue weakness rather than reacting to airway obstruction during sleep events.
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
These energy-based treatments effectively reshape and strengthen the soft palate tissues, providing a less invasive solution that reduces snoring and sleep apnea symptoms by altering tissue properties to maintain airway patency during sleep.
Implementation Method 1
delivering energy to the soft palate via one or more energy delivery members on the treatment surface... delivering energy involves delivering radiofrequency energy between the two rows of electrode pairs
Data Source
AI summary
A method of treating a soft palate in a patient may involve advancing a tissue treatment portion of a soft palate treatment device through the patient's mouth, contacting a treatment surface of the tissue treatment portion with mucosal tissue of the soft palate, and delivering energy from the tissue treatment portion through the mucosal tissue to a target tissue in the soft palate beneath to the mucosal tissue, to change at least one property of the target tissue. The method may further involve cooling the mucosal tissue with a cooling member on the treatment surface of the tissue treatment portion and removing the tissue treatment portion from the mouth.