AIRWAY DEVICE WITH TONGUE-ENGAGING MEMBER
An oral device for improving airway patency comprises a base adapted to be held between a patient's upper and lower teeth and a tongue-engaging member. The tongue-engaging member engages the tongue and displaces the tongue anteriorly when the base is held between the patient's teeth. A vacuum is applied through the base and the tongue-engaging member in order to draw the soft palate against a posterior region of the tongue in order to stabilize the soft palate and open or clear the patient's airway.
1 . An oral device for temporary placement in a patient's oral cavity, said device comprising:
a base adapted to be held between a patient's upper and lower teeth;
a vacuum conduit;
a lip seal coupled to the base and configured for passing the vacuum conduit into the patient's oral cavity; and
a tongue-engaging member coupled to the base and including two laterally spaced-apart enclosures having an opening therebetween and enclosing separate plenums, wherein each plenum is connected to the vacuum conduit and each enclosure has (1) a first surface disposed to engage a medial region of a tongue when the base is positioned between the patient's teeth and (2) at least one port on a surface of the member which opens the plenum to the oral cavity.
2 . An oral device as in claim 1 , wherein each enclosure has a plurality of ports distributed thereover.
3 . An oral device as in claim 1 , wherein each enclosure has an anterior surface which is inclined forwardly at an angle in a range from 45° to 60° relative to a plane of the base when positioned between the upper and lower teeth.
4 . An oral device as in claim 3 , wherein the anterior surface of each enclosure is generally parallel to a posterior surface of each enclosure.
5 . An oral device as in claim 4 , wherein each enclosure has a lower edge which extends up to at least 8 mm above or below the plane of the base and from 0 mm to 5 mm in a posterior direction from second molars of the patient when the base is positioned between the upper and lower teeth.
6 . An oral device as in claim 5 , wherein each enclosure of the tongue-engaging member has an upper edge which extends at least 5 mm above the plane of the base and from 0 mm to 20 mm in an anterior direction from second molars of the patient when the base is positioned between the upper and lower teeth.
7 . An oral device as in claim 6 , wherein the upper edge is deflected in an anterior direction to guide the tongue forwardly when the base is positioned between the upper and lower teeth.
8 . An oral device as in claim 5 , wherein the posterior surfaces of the enclosures of the tongue-engaging member have an area in a range from 600 mm 2 to 850 mm 2 .
9 . An oral device as in claim 7 , wherein the anterior surfaces of the enclosures of the tongue-engaging member have an area in a range from 550 mm 2 to 750 mm 2 .
10 . An oral device as in claim 1 , wherein the base comprises a U-shaped bite plate configured to be positioned between the upper and lower teeth.
11 . An oral device as in claim 10 , further comprising left and right connectors which join the enclosures to left and right portions of the base.
12 . A method for stabilizing a soft palate in a patient's oral cavity, said method comprising:
engaging a surface of a member having two laterally spaced-apart enclosures enclosing separate plenums and separated by an opening therebetween against a medial region of a tongue, wherein the surface engages a medial region of the tongue to displace the medial region of the tongue away from the soft palate to provide a clearance therebetween when the base is held between upper and lower teeth; and
applying a vacuum within the clearance through a posterior surface of the member to draw together the soft palate and a posterior region of the tongue.
13 . A method as in claim 12 , wherein each enclosure has an anterior surface inclined at an angle in a range from 45° to 60° relative to a bite plane between the patient's upper and lower teeth.
14 . A method as in claim 13 , wherein each enclosure has a lower edge which extends up to 8 mm above or below the bite plane and from 3 mm to 5 mm in a posterior direction from the second molars of the patient.
15 . A method as in claim 14 , wherein each enclosure has an upper edge which extends at least 5 mm above the bite plane and from 0 mm to 20 mm in an anterior direction from the second molars of the patient.
16 . A method as in claim 13 , wherein the anterior surface engages the tongue over an area in a range from 550 mm 2 to 750 mm 2 .
17 . A method as in claim 12 , wherein the vacuum draws the soft palate against the posterior surface of the member.
18 . A method as in claim 12 , wherein the soft palate remains spaced-apart from the posterior surface of the member while the vacuum is being applied.