A Sunnyvale company has received Food and Drug Administration approval for an anti-snoring device that shrinks tissues blocking the air passages of the sleep-deprived.
Somnus Medical Technologies was expected to announce the approval of its technology Tuesday. The device aims to cure snoring and a more serious ailment, sleep apnea, a recurrent halting of breath that can wake sufferers repeatedly or, rarely, suffocate them.
Forty million Americans — more than one in seven — suffer from habitual snoring.
The Somnoplasty technology the company uses to treat sleep apnea works at relatively low temperatures and leaves outer tissue — such as taste buds — intact.
A radio frequency generator connected to a narrow needle penetrates the surface of the tongue, throat or soft palette and destroys a small area of inner tissue by generating a heat of 158 to 176 degrees, well below the boiling point.
