Victhom files provisional sleep apnea patent application

Oct 19 2006

Victhom Human Bionics announced that, after a series of pilot animal studies on potential medical indications of its Closed Loop System (the CLS Neuromodulator).

The Company has filed a U.S. provisional patent application entitled "Bio-Interfacing Closed Loop Platform for the Correction of Disorders and/or Deficiencies in a Physiological Process Such as Sleep Apnea", aimed at the management of respiratory disorders such as sleep apnea.

"The studies that were conducted demonstrate that our technology is efficient for the recognition of respiratory deficiencies and are an encouraging indication that our CLS Neuromodulator and its components such as the Neurocuff and the Neurolink could be developed for several other indications considered as unmet medical needs", mentioned Mr. Stephane Bedard, Founder and Chief Operating Officer.

The patent application aims to protect the use of the CLS Neuromodulator that includes neurosensing and neurostimulating systems (NSS) directly interfacing with the peripheral nervous system (PNS). The CLS Neuromodulator may provide beneficial therapeutic effects to patients who suffer from respiratory disorders. The electrical stimulation signal is adjusted in accordance with the signals detected by the CLS Neuromodulator, which is designed to treat respiratory deficiencies.

Sleep apnea is defined as an intermittent cessation of airflow through the nose and mouth during sleep. Apneas of at least 10 seconds duration are considered clinically important. In most cases, apneas reach 20 to 30 seconds in duration and some can even last up to 2 to 3 minutes. The minimum number of apneas that should be considered clinically relevant (and leads to increased hypoxia, for instance) is a matter for debate. By the time most patients become aware of their condition and are diagnosed as such, they may have at least 10 to 15 events per hour of sleep, and may even have up to 400 to 600 events in an 8-hour period of sleep. According to the National Sleep Foundation, up to 18 million Americans experience sleep apnea(i). Approximately 33% of these cases involve moderate to severe sleep apnea. The potential market value of the CLS Neuromodulator applied to sleep apnea exceeds US$ 1.5 billion.