Sleep Medicine Solutions, LLC

Obstructive Sleep Apnea/Hypopnea Syndrome (OSAHS) is an extremely common and under diagnosed medical condition that can have profound consequences to a person's health.  Snoring and episodes where breathing stops (apneas) are commonly seen in people with OSAHS, which is a leading cause of excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS).  High blood pressure, mood problems, and obesity are a few among many other medical problems that may be associated with the sleep disruption and deprivation caused by OSAHS.

There are a number of muscles that surround the upper airway in the neck.  Normally, when awake, people have good tone in the muscles of their upper airway.  These muscles help people to breathe and to vocalize (speak).  However, during sleep, the upper airway muscles may collapse and close off the airway.  This results in an apnea.  In order to breathe again, the person will go to a lighter stage of sleep or wake up entirely.  This may happen hundreds of times per night (many times without the person being aware it is happening), and can result in fragmented, unrefreshing sleep. 

One of the areas of the airway most susceptible to collapse is the hypopharynx (base of the tongue).  OSAHS is frequently worse when people lie supine (on their backs), because the effects of gravity cause the base of the tongue to fall posteriorly (backwards) when the airway muscles relax during sleep.  In fact, some people have purely positional sleep apnea...if they do not lie on their back, they do not snore or stop breathing.  There is currently no definitive treatment for positional OSAHS.

The Kinetic Attached Pillow (KAP)

The Kinetic Attached Pillow (or KAP) is a pillow designed to treat positional sleep apnea.  It is kinetic because it moves with your head while you are sleeping.  It is attached, or fastened, to you with a head strap.  The KAP is designed to work either with or without a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) mask.  If you own a CPAP mask, the benefits to sleeping with a KAP are that the pillow is less likely to bump your mask during sleep and allows you to sleep prone (on your stomach).  Because gravity causes the base of the tongue to fall forward (rather than backwards) in the prone position, people with OSAHS may not need as much pressure flowing through their CPAP masks, resulting in less mask leak.  The KAP is being created to accommodate both nasal & full face masks.

Because the KAP keeps patients off their back, people with positional sleep apnea may not need a CPAP mask at all!  The inner portion of the KAP will consist of a soft foam or gel that goes around the periphery of the head (much like a massage pillow).  The outer portion will be constructed of a light-weight, durable material that keeps the head in the chosen position on the mattress.  Prototypes are currently being built, and approval from the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) as a treatment for positional sleep apnea is expected after clinical trials. 

Patent is currently pending.  More information will become available as the KAP gets closer to going on the market.  Be sure to check back to www.sleepmedicinesolutions.com frequently with the latest information on this promising new treatment for sleep apnea.