Pharyngeal wall treatment

摘要

A patient's pharyngeal wall is treated by inserting an expander member into the airway and positioning an active portion of the expander member in opposition to portions of the pharyngeal wall to be treated. The expander member is activated to urge the wall portions outwardly to an outwardly displaced position. The expander member is then deactivated while leaving the wall portions in the outwardly placed position and the expander member is removed from said airway. A further aspect of the treatment includes stabilization of at least a portion of the pharyngeal wall after compression of portions of the wall.

主权项

1. An expander device that treats a patient's pharyngeal airway, the expander device comprising:
a spacer bar having first and second free ends; supports located at each of the first and second free ends of the spacer bar; and compression pads provided on the supports, the spacer bar, the supports, and the pads being dimensioned so as to be inserted into the patient's pharyngeal airway such that the compression pads are positioned within the airway in opposition to an external portion of a pharyngeal wall of the airway, wherein the compression pads expand against the external portion of the pharyngeal wall when activated to outwardly displace the external portion of the pharyngeal wall, wherein the compression pads contract from the external portion of the pharyngeal wall when deactivated to permit removal of the spacer bar, the support, and the pads from the airway after treatment of the pharyngeal wall of the patient's pharyngeal airway, and wherein the pads included inflatable bladders.