No, not those kinds of implants. Honestly, the filthy minds some people have! This is a sensible blog about sleep and snoring aids, remember, and we’re talking about an interesting new device called the Apex system, which has been developed by British scientists. It’s meant to be able to eradicate snoring in a user. The catch is, you have to get it surgically implanted into your body.
The way it works is though stimulation of the muscles which control the airways open during sleep. In essence, it’s sort of like a pacemaker for the respiratory system, working through the night to control muscles which are otherwise left to go limp, letting the soft tissues of the mouth and throat sag.
It’s currently under trial, but there’s still quite some way to go before we all have one of these nestling under our collar bones, keeping us right as we sleep. As you might imagine, not everyone has been comfortable with the idea of these matchbox-sized devices being implanted within their bodies (I’m certainly not that keen on the idea myself!), and there’s been some reports of test subjects feeling that the device itself feels a little uncomfortable to wear.
Still, the people developing this device are quietly confident it’ll be up and running by, ooh, 2013.
I’m not holding my breath, which is probably just as well. Sounds just a little bit like re-inventing the wheel if you ask me.
Still, any scientific research in this area is a good thing. I just don’t think the average snorer will be prepared to go to those lengths. Still, this is a world where plastic surgery is all the rage and perfectly sensible people pay huge amounts for grisly-sounding things like skin peels. At least this miracle device would actually do something.
Comments on this entry are closed.