Last year the FDA granted Respicardia, a Minnetonka, Minnesota firm, approval to introduce its remedē System as a treatment option for severe central sleep apnea. Now the company is proudly reporting that the first patient to receive the newly commercialized phrenic nerve stimulating implant is already receiving treatment following surgery at Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center. The remedē system is essentially a pacemaker for the lungs, taking over the responsibility of stimulating the diaphragm while the patient is sleeping.
People with serious central sleep apnea tend to stop breathing frequently throughout the night. Each occurrence wakes them up and prevents getting a full night’s rest, which is compounded by additional negative health effects that arise. Respicardia’s remedē system includes an implant placed under the skin that has an electric lead reaching for the phrenic nerves, which it stimulates regularly to send a signal to the diaphragm to move the lungs. The system actually monitors the natural electrical activity along the phrenic nerves, aligning with, boosting, and even shifting the signal as necessary with every breath.
Here’s a Respicardia video presenting the remedē system:
Flashback: Remedē Implantable System FDA Approved to Treat Moderate to Severe Central Sleep Apnea…
Product page: remedē System…
Via: Respicardia…
