LivaNova, a leading medical technology company, has announced a significant breakthrough in treating obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The company's PolySync programming technology has been shown to increase the cumulative apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) response rate to 84.5% in patients with moderate to severe OSA. This is a major improvement on the 65% response rate achieved in the OSPREY randomized controlled trial (RCT), which was previously reported by the company.
The PolySync substudy involved patients who did not meet responder criteria after one year of individual-contact stimulation in OSPREY. These patients underwent reprogramming using simultaneous-contact stimulation, which converted the majority of them into responders. The results showed significant improvements in both AHI and oxygen desaturation index (ODI) outcomes, and increased the cumulative response rate to 84.5%.
The PolySync findings are particularly significant because they demonstrate that this novel stimulation paradigm can further improve outcomes beyond that achieved with the initial response to therapy. The ability to convert non-responders into responders through optimized programming represents an important advancement in treating OSA.
Dr. Alan R. Schwartz, lead author of the study and adjunct professor of otorhinolaryngology at the University of Pennsylvania, said: 'These data are particularly meaningful because they demonstrate that this novel stimulation paradigm can further improve outcomes beyond that achieved with the initial response to therapy.'
The PolySync programming was well-tolerated, with no serious treatment-emergent adverse events and no stimulation- or device-related adverse events reported in the substudy.