Palatal Implant System

Reuters reports:

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Insertion of small plastic rods into the soft palate with a minimally invasive surgical procedure is a safe and effective treatment for snoring, a small study suggests.
The recently developed Anti-Snoring Device, now called the Pillar Palatal Implant System, uses a device that looks somewhat like soldering gun to insert a thin 3/4-inch-long plastic rod into the soft palate under local anesthesia. Typically, people have three implants inserted.
Dr. Joachim T. Maurer, from the University Hospital Mannheim in Germany, and colleagues assessed the outcomes of 15 people who were treated with the device.
After 90 days, there was a significant improvement in snoring-related symptoms, the authors note in the medical journal Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. Moreover, the average number of snoring sounds per hour fell following treatment.

Restore Medical, Inc. provides additional information about implants that it has developed:

The Pillar Procedure involves the placement of three tiny woven polyester inserts that stiffen the structure of the soft palate to help reduce both the vibration that causes snoring and the ability of the soft palate to obstruct the airway.
Rather than surgically removing tissue, the Pillar Procedure is designed to stiffen the soft palate. Once in place, the inserts add structural support in the muscular layer of the soft palate and induce a natural tissue response that secures them within the palate. Over the next 8-12 weeks, fibrosis creates additional stiffening and structural support of the soft palate.

More at Restore Medical…