IP Library › Granted Patent US 11,207,208
Granted Patent B2
US 11,207,208 · App. 16/420,017 · Granted Dec 28, 2021

Systems and methods for positioning a patient's mandible in response to sleep apnea status

Inventor: Avi Kopelman (Palo Alto, CA)
Assignee: Align Technology, Inc.
A61F5/566
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,207,208
App. No.
16/420,017
Granted
Dec 28, 2021
Kind
B2
Abstract

Systems, methods, devices, and apparatus for positioning a patient's mandible in response to sleep apnea status are provided herein. In one aspect, a system for monitoring and treating sleep apnea in a patient comprises one or more sensors configured to monitor the patient for symptoms associated with sleep apnea; an intraoral appliance worn by the patient, one or more processors, and memory comprising instructions executable by the one or more processors to cause the one or more processors to: receive a set of sensor data from the one or more sensors, detect, using a machine learning algorithm, onset of a sleep apnea event based on the set of sensor data, and transmit a control signal to the intraoral appliance to cause the intraoral appliance to displace a lower jaw of the patient from a first position to a second position in order to treat the sleep apnea event.

Claims (44)

1. A system for monitoring and treating a sleep apnea condition in a patient, the system comprising:

one or more sensors configured to monitor the patient for symptoms associated with the sleep apnea condition;

an intraoral appliance wearable by the patient;

one or more processors; and

memory comprising instructions executable by the one or more processors to cause the one or more processors to:

receive a first set of sensor data from the one or more sensors,

detect, using a machine learning algorithm, onset of a sleep apnea event based on the first set of sensor data, and

transmit a first control signal to the intraoral appliance worn by the patient to instruct an actuator on the intraoral appliance to provide a first displacement force to displace a lower jaw of the patient from a first position to a second position in order to treat the sleep apnea condition; wherein the first position is a habitual jaw position and the second position is an advanced jaw position, and displacing the lower jaw comprises advancing the lower jaw from the habitual jaw position to the advanced jaw position.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors are configured to measure one or more of breathing sounds, snoring sounds, breathing rate, respiratory air flow, chest expansion, oxygen level, cardiac data, or sleeping position, or combinations thereof.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the machine learning algorithm is customized to the patient using data of previous sleep patterns of the patient.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the instructions further cause the system to:

identify a discrepancy between a current sleep pattern of the patient and the previous sleep patterns of the patient; and

generate an alert indicative of the discrepancy.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further cause the system to:

receive a second set of sensor data from the one or more sensors;

detect, using the machine learning algorithm, termination of the sleep apnea event based on the second set of sensor data; and

transmit a second control signal to the intraoral appliance to cause the intraoral appliance to displace the lower jaw of the patient from the second position to the first position.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further cause the system to determine the second position for the lower jaw using the machine learning algorithm.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the instructions further cause the system to:

receive a third set of sensor data from the one or more sensors while the lower jaw is in the second position; and

determine effectiveness of the second position of the lower jaw in treating the sleep apnea event based on the third set of sensor data.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the instructions further cause the system to update the machine learning algorithm based on the determined effectiveness.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the instructions further cause the system to:

determine, using the machine learning algorithm, a modified position of the lower jaw to improve the effectiveness of treating the sleep apnea event; and

transmit a third control signal to the intraoral appliance to displace the lower jaw to the modified position.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the actuator is coupled between an upper shell and a lower shell of the intraoral appliance.

11. An intraoral device wearable by a patient for treating a sleep apnea condition, the intraoral device comprising:

an upper anchor configured to be secured to the patient's upper jaw;

a lower anchor configured to be secured to the patient's lower jaw;

an actuator coupled between the upper and lower anchors, wherein the actuator is configured to provide a first displacement force to displace the patient's lower jaw from a first position to a second position in order to treat the sleep apnea condition,

wherein the first position is a habitual jaw position and the second position is an advanced jaw position, and displacing the lower jaw comprises advancing the lower jaw from the habitual jaw position to the advanced jaw position, and

wherein the actuator advances or retracts the patient's lower jaw based at least in part on a control signal received from one or more processors; and

one or more sensors, wherein the one or more sensors are configured:

to monitor the patient for symptoms associated with the sleep apnea condition,

to provide a first set of sensor data to the one or more processors;

to receive a control signal, based on an output of a machine learning algorithm, to displace the lower jaw using the actuator.

12. The intraoral device of claim 11 , wherein the one or more sensors are configured to measure one or more of breathing sounds, snoring sounds, breathing rate, respiratory air flow, chest expansion, oxygen level, cardiac data, or sleeping position, or combinations thereof.

13. The intraoral device of claim 11 , wherein the machine learning algorithm is customized to the patient using data of previous sleep patterns of the patient.

14. The intraoral device of claim 11 , wherein the actuator is configured to receive an alert indicative of a discrepancy between a current sleep pattern of the patient and a previous sleep pattern of the patient.

15. The intraoral device of claim 14 , wherein the one or more sensors are configured to provide a third set of sensor data while the lower jaw is in the second position; and wherein the third set of sensor data provides for a determined effectiveness of the second position of the lower jaw in treating a sleep apnea event.

16. The intraoral device of claim 15 , wherein the actuator is configured to displace the lower jaw to a modified position; and wherein the modified position improves the effectiveness of treating the sleep apnea event.

17. The intraoral device of claim 11 , wherein the one or more sensors are configured to provide a second set of sensor data to the one or more processors; wherein the second set of sensor data allows for detection of the termination of a sleep apnea event; and wherein the actuator is configured to displace the lower jaw of the patient from the second position to the first position.

18. The intraoral device of claim 11 , wherein the second position for the lower jaw is determined using the machine learning algorithm.

19. The intraoral device of claim 18 , wherein the machine learning algorithm is updated based on the determined effectiveness.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 16, 2022
From: KOPELMAN, AVI
To: ALIGN TECHNOLOGY, INC.
Reel/Frame 059287/0897 →
Continuity (4)
Division 14992175 · Jan 11, 2016
Provisional Application 62161798 · May 14, 2015
Provisional Application 62103010 · Jan 13, 2015
Related Publication 20190269546A1 · Sep 5, 2019