Apnicure's Winx alternative to cpap

[DariaVader]

Anyone heard of or tried the winx? Looks like it applies a mild vacuum to the soft palate and holds the tongue to stop airway collapse. It could be a cpap alternative for some, and i wonder if it could even be used in addition to cpap....
http://apnicure.com/about

[PaulaO2]

It doesn't seem like it can suck up enough of the tongue to make a difference. And it does nothing for the rest of the throat tissue that is also involved. They are basing their product on the small group of people where it is just their tongue and the base of the tongue that gets in the way. But for most folks, it is much more than that.

The muscles in the throat are voluntary muscles, meaning we control them. We control our swallowing the same way we control raising our arm and hand to scratch our nose. We don't think about it, we just do it. So when we sleep, those muscles relax, just like our arm and hand. If the airway is narrow to begin with (thick necked men, fat necked folks, narrow throated people due to structure, etc), when the muscles relax, they can close the airway.

Pulling the tongue forward may help but it's not going to move everything out of the way.

But I do like that they plan on having software to view the data, though. I suppose the device can tell when the tongue moves too far back, kick in the suction, and keep it there. How does it know to release it though? Slowly release it to see if it falls back again? I dunno. But at least it, unlike dental devices, is making an effort to determine if it is working. That's the big problem with dental devices. Without an oximeter or a chest strap, there's no way to know if it is working.

[DariaVader]

i dunno, I just thought it seemed interesting. Looks like a new product. If it works, it sure is a lot more portable than the cpap.

[PaulaO2]

Do they show how big the machine is?

But yeah, if it works, it would be great for those who just cannot or will not deal with the CPAP. We get a lot of folks here who are so stuck on the ugly the mask makes them look. I say "You're asleep! Who cares!" but we are a world so focused on material things and not what counts. So this, which is just a tube coming out of the mouth, would be "prettier". It would also be less claustrophobic, another major issue.

[DeepBreathing]

I think this could be an alternative to CPAP for some people, but as Paula said it would probably only give relief to a small percentage of patients. Reading through the various reports, it does seem that it gets results, but the residual AHI was still well over the target of 5 for most of their volunteers. (In fact it looks like their target was a reduction of 50% which in my case would still leave me with severe apnea). I like the thin tubing instead of a hose, but personally I don't think I could tolerate that device inside my mouth all night.

It would be interesting to hear from any members who have tried this device to see what they think of it.

[remscape808]

From the looks of the device placement in the animation, it does look like some patients with gag reflex above a certain threshhold might have a hard time dealing with the Winx being in place, for any length of time, let alone an entire night. CPAP is at least non-intrusive and for the most part it would be much more comfortable to most patients.

[truckerdad57]

The "tongue sucker" really doesn't work all that well from the studies I read. Only about a 50% reduction in AHI under treatment.

A major practical issue is you get a saliva reservoir you need to clean out every morning. Gets pretty gross if you don't clean it every morning.

DOT and FAA wont approve medical exams for truck drivers or pilots using them.

Did a short article about it for a trucking magazine warning drivers not to believe the ads trying to sell it to them.