Method of treating snoring and obstructive sleep apnea

摘要

A method, system and device for addressing the reduction of snoring includes a removable or dissolvable strip of material that adhere to mucosal tissue of a person's soft palate to provide stiffening support therefore, thus reducing the occurrence of vibration of such tissue during sleep. Preferred embodiments include of a specially textured surface, either one both or at least the outer side of an adhesive strip (the side facing away from the mucosal tissue to which it is attached) that has anti-microbial characteristics, bioluminescent expressions, etc. and a surface topography that resists bioadhesion of undesired bacteria that are typically present in a human's mouth.

主权项

1. A method of treating snoring and/or obstructive sleep apnea in a subject in need of such treatment, comprising:
providing to the subject a buccal bioadhesive strip adapted to bind a mucosal membrane by applying said strip to the tissue of the soft palate to stiffen the tissue to reduce vibration, said strip comprising at least one coating layer having a surface topography for resisting bioadhesion, said at least one layer comprising a polymer, said coating layer having a pattern defined by a plurality of spaced apart features attached to or projected into a base surface, said plurality of features each having at least one microscale dimension and having at least one neighboring feature having a substantially different geometry, wherein an average spacing between adjacent ones of said features is between 0.5 and 5 μm in at least a portion of said coating layer, said coating layer resisting bioadhesion as compared to said base surface.