Inspire Medical Systems, a Maple Grove-based device business, selected North Memorial Sleep Health Center as one of the Minnesota sites involved in its clinical study.
Inspire Medical, a Medtronic spinoff company, is developing an implantable device to treat obstructive sleep apnea, a common sleep disorder that causes breathing difficulty.
The small device is placed just below the patient's collarbone and is used while the patient is sleeping. Two wires are connected to the device; one keeps track of the patient's breathing while the other stimulates a nerve in the neck with every breath. The stimulation prevents the tongue from collapsing and blocking the airway, allowing the patient to breathe normally.
The study will take place at the center's Maple Grove and Robbinsdale locations, as well as St. Cloud Ear, Nose and Throat in Minnesota. The data collected is part of the company's study that will involve medical centers in the U.S. and Europe.
The company told the Star Tribune last November it hopes to receive U.S. commercial approval around 2013.
