February 27, 2009: Implantable Device Replaces CPAP

Patrick A · Post by **Patrick A** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 11:41 pm

mdpooch wrote:Okay folks and all that are interested,

We are leaving tomorrow to go to Mississippi for the Enterra Therapy stimulator device for my mother, she is nervous about the plane flight but she will be ok. I have read all the paperwork on this device and it is very interesting. I will keep you updated on all that happens -hopefully daily. The first thing is the gastric emptying procedure and we will be doing various tests on Tuesday March 24th thru out that whole day. Will keep you all posted and cross my fingers that this will bring her relief

This device looks like a unit that one of my doctors wants me to have implanted in my back for my lower back problems. I wonder if it's made by the same company I will look at the paperwork he gave me and keep you folks advised.

roster · Post by **roster** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 5:45 am

Patrick A wrote:.......

This device looks like a unit that one of my doctors wants me to have implanted in my back for my lower back problems. I wonder if it's made by the same company I will look at the paperwork he gave me and keep you folks advised.

Patrick, Request the Bushmills brand.

packitin · Post by **packitin** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 7:17 am

deleted

mdpooch · Post by **mdpooch** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 6:02 pm

Today we went to the hospital and had the temporary stimulator installed -they done it thru an EGD the end of the wire has a corkscrew type of setup on it and a small blue wire comes out thru her nose and is attatched to the stimulator that is in a pouch -the device is made by medtronics it took a total of three hours. my mother has already noticed a difference, sha has not had any pain at all today -we will see how the night goes, but for those of you that are interested, the doctor whom installed it was the inventor and he has been traveling the country doing lectures and educating others doctors on this device for 10 years, the FDA approved this " Humanitarion device" in 1995 medicare is paying for this or we would be sunk -we have another test tommorrow then we go back to the hospital Tuesday March 31, 2009 they will take the temp out and she is scheduled for surgery April 6, 2009 if all goes well- so far so good

SharkBait · Post by **SharkBait** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 6:15 pm

mdpooch wrote:Today we went to the hospital and had the temporary stimulator installed -they done it thru an EGD the end of the wire has a corkscrew type of setup on it and a small blue wire comes out thru her nose and is attatched to the stimulator that is in a pouch -the device is made by medtronics it took a total of three hours. my mother has already noticed a difference, sha has not had any pain at all today -we will see how the night goes, but for those of you that are interested, the doctor whom installed it was the inventor and he has been traveling the country doing lectures and educating others doctors on this device for 10 years, the FDA approved this " Humanitarion device" in 1995 medicare is paying for this or we would be sunk -we have another test tommorrow then we go back to the hospital Tuesday March 31, 2009 they will take the temp out and she is scheduled for surgery April 6, 2009 if all goes well- so far so good

Pooch, thanks for the update and your mom is in our thoughts and prayers!!!

roster · Post by **roster** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 7:45 pm

mdpooch wrote: ........ my mother has already noticed a difference, sha has not had any pain at all today .......

Wonderful!

Sorry, I did not understand the part about the wire out the nose.

Thanks,

Rooster
Healthy awake, deathly ill asleep.

mdpooch · Post by **mdpooch** » Sat Apr 04, 2009 1:12 pm

The last time I posted, they had installed the temp stimulator, the blue wire went from the stimulator thru her nose and was attatched to her stomach. during that time they run tests to see how far her egg had moved in her stomach, the first set of tests they done prior to placing the stimulator -there was 100% no movement in the stomach at all!! they placed the temp stimulator for five days and when we went back after five days to see what kind of results there was -there was at least 10% movement of food-during these five days my mother felt good-no pain and we where able to take her to New Orleans, Biloxi and Mobile Alabama, which she traveled well and got to play in the ocean and walk on the sand. They installed the stimulator thursday night -got out of syrgery at 11:30 pm. she had a rough day friday and so far today but its gettin better. This stimulator acts and does like what the Vagus nerve no longer does. We have met and talked with several people her whom has had it and still does and they say it has been a life changing event. She is going to be in the hospital 7 to 10 days. The doctor here is going to send a device to her primary so he can adjust the stimulator as needed and educate him as how to use it and educate him about the device. We will be back in June to have a I- Stimm installed that is a device that is FDA approved to help with the urination side of things which will help in her case but it also has proven to help with the bowel problems that come with gastroparesis this time it will be easier as it is a outpatient surgery, they also will check on the gastric stimulator. They are doing many things out there that none of us know about in the medical feild-remember my mother is 69 and she now has hope these devices are covered under medicare and yes there is a wait time but we told them that we didnt think she would last much longer and they got her here within a month. I am going to get as much info as I can to take home to spread the word and scan it in so if anyone is interested in the info you can PM me but I wont be home until after April 20th and I will email you the info. Her doc her is Brilliant and all the doctors and nurses are very respectful along with many good people we have come across.

roster · Post by **roster** » Sat Apr 04, 2009 2:04 pm

Glad to hear about your mother's excellent results!!

Bearded_One · Post by **Bearded_One** » Sat Apr 04, 2009 4:04 pm

It is going to be quite major surgery to implant it the first time. I wonder how long the batteries last before the unit has to be replaced (another possibly major surgery unless the leads can be reused).

roster · Post by **roster** » Mon Jun 08, 2009 5:19 pm

Inspire Medical Systems Inc., a med-tech startup developing a device to treat sleep apnea, has raised $17 million in venture capital, the company announced Monday.

Synergy Life Science Partners, a venture-capital firm in Portola Valley, Calif., led the round of financing. Previous investors, including Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, US Venture Partners and Medtronic Inc., also participated in the round.

Brooklyn Park-based Inspire Medical spun out of Medtronic in 2007 and its CEO, Tim Herbert, formerly worked as senior director of ventures at the company. Dr. Glen Nelson, a former vice chairman of Fridley-based Medtronic and a previous CEO of Park Nicollet Medical Center, also is an investor.

Inspire Medical will use the capital, to be disbursed in two parts, to fund clinical trials. The company’s technology sends an electrical impulse to a nerve in order to keep a patient’s airway open during sleep. The device could become an alternative to the standard treatment for the disorder, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). Patients undergoing that treatment must wear a mask while sleeping.

Inspire Medical is not the only med-tech company in the Twin Cities developing devices for treating sleep apnea. Fridley-based Apnex Medical Inc., which is using electrical stimulation to treat the disorder, closed on $16.1 million in venture capital two years ago.

kgrayson@bizjournals.com | (612) 288-2106

Source: http://triangle.bizjournals.com/triangl ... aily8.html

roster · Post by **roster** » Thu Sep 24, 2009 10:15 am

Now a third company enters this market. Competition usually means good things start to happen.

ImThera's Targeted Hypoglossal Neurostimulation Therapy for Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Hypoglossal nerve stimulation for treatment of obstructive sleep apnea is a promising technology being pursued by a number of companies, including big firms such as Medtronic. The big idea is that muscles of the upper airway relax more than necessary in some OSA patients, the passage gets blocked and air can't flow repeatedly during sleep. Hence hypoglossal stimulation, properly timed to one's breathing, can help to relieve the obstruction. ImThera, a start up out of San Diego, California, is now reporting that it has developed a new neurostimulation solution for people that failed to find a less invasive therapy for their obstructive sleep apnea (i.e. CPAP mask) The aura 6000 implant provides night time electric stimulation to the hypoglossal nerve. The firm has yet to receive regulatory approval to market the device.

Components of the aura 6000:

Implanted

•A multi-contact electrode specific to the Hypoglossal nerve. The electrode connects to the IPG via a lead wire.

•An implantable pulse generator (IPG) enclosure which contains the electronics and the RF receive-transmit antenna. It is externally programmable, specifically for each patient, and re-chargeable.

External

•Patient's controller, charger and programmer device. The external controller interfaces to the IPG for patient functions and to the physician's computer for set-up and programming.

•Physician's PC including the aura600 Clinical Manager software.
http://www.medgadget.com/archives/2009/ ... apnea.html

midnightdweary · Post by **midnightdweary** » Thu Sep 24, 2009 12:52 pm

The web site stated that: "CAUTION: The Imthera device is not for sale in the U.S.A."

That implies that it is sold in other countries. Does anyone know which ones?

roster · Post by **roster** » Thu Sep 24, 2009 1:39 pm

Also from their website:

ImThera will be conducting European clinical trials starting Fall 2009. U.S. clinical trials are expected to begin in 2010.

mdpooch · Post by **mdpooch** » Thu Sep 24, 2009 8:22 pm

I have recently haved moved my mother from Montana back to Wyomin , She has done extremely well with the Gastric Stimulator -(Enterra Therapy) it was implanted on April 2,2009. See my previous posts. This Stimulator helps the food digest in her stomach-I would have never believed it. Once every three months her primary doctor receives the programmer from medtronics for her to be checked then they talk to a individual at Medtronics and they talk to Dr. Able while she is there and they decide if it needs adjusted-then they adjust it and at that time they know how much battery is left in the usage of the stimulator-this is a godsend for some people as in my mothers case. She also elected to have the Interstem implanted as well, this item is mostly made to help the bladder however has been proven to help the bowels, her lower bowel was not working either, so we implanted this, we have the programmer in our hands at all times, we can program this ourselves. This stimulator is a god send as well, she was having fecal incontinance before this and now with both stimulators food is moving thru her system and no incontinance of any kind. Remember my mother had absolutely no food digesting!! She now is "mom" again and it is wonderful, remember if theres a will there is a way, I had contacted medtronics today to get the programmer lined up for her appt in October and I had a conversation with the lady concerning the stimulator for the sleep apnea -she was going to check into it for me and get back with me, she give me her direct line number so I can reach her-I will be finding out more and passing it on, meanwhile we will go back to mississippi for her yearly checkup with dr Able in April on 2010 - hope this info helps someone. you can also go online to the website http://www.digestivedisease.com to also find out more -it is a really good website

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Thu Sep 24, 2009 8:38 pm

So glad to hear how well everything's going for your mother, mdpooch! Thank you so much for the followup post.

mdpooch wrote:I had contacted medtronics today to get the programmer lined up for her appt in October and I had a conversation with the lady concerning the stimulator for the sleep apnea -she was going to check into it for me and get back with me, she give me her direct line number so I can reach her-I will be finding out more and passing it on

Yes, please do let us know if you find out anything from the Medtronics lady about the stimulator for sleep apnea.

Your nickname... are you a vet?

February 27, 2009: Implantable Device Replaces CPAP

Re: Update March 17, 2009: Implantable Device Replaces CPAP

Re: Update March 17, 2009: Implantable Device Replaces CPAP

Re: Update March 17, 2009: Implantable Device Replaces CPAP

UPDATE MARCH 25,2009

Re: UPDATE MARCH 25,2009

Re: UPDATE MARCH 25,2009

Re: UPDATE aPRIL 4TH

Re: Update March 17, 2009: Implantable Device Replaces CPAP

Re: Update March 17, 2009: Implantable Device Replaces CPAP

Re: Update March 17, 2009: Implantable Device Replaces CPAP

Re: Update March 17, 2009: Implantable Device Replaces CPAP

Re: Update March 17, 2009: Implantable Device Replaces CPAP

Re: Update March 17, 2009: Implantable Device Replaces CPAP

Re: Update March 17, 2009: Implantable Device Replaces CPAP

Re: Update March 17, 2009: Implantable Device Replaces CPAP

Machine