MUSCLING IN ON SNORERS
An electrode implanted in the roof of the mouth might one day be able to silence snorers, according to a team at the University of Southern California. Snoring is caused by the flapping of tissues that line the soft palate as the sleeper breathes in and out. Muscles keep these folds of tissue in place during the day, but they relax during sleep – in snorers, so much so that the tissue flaps.
Now Gerald Loeb and his colleagues are developing a microstimulating electrode no bigger than a peanut that will prevent these muscles from relaxing. The…
