Sleep apnea implant: how it works, who qualifies, results and risks

I implant both FDA-approved sleep apnea implants for obstructive sleep apnea, Inspire and Genio. Both work by hypoglossal nerve stimulation. This guide covers how they work, who qualifies, surgery and recovery, results, risks and cost, and the separate implant made for central sleep apnea.

Written by Ryan Nord, MD — Sleep Surgeon, VCU Health  ·  Last medically reviewed: October 30, 2026

On this page
  1. The short answer
  2. How it works
  3. The FDA-approved devices
  4. Who qualifies
  5. The evaluation
  6. Surgery
  7. Recovery and activation
  8. Results
  9. Risks and side effects
  10. Cost
  11. Central sleep apnea
  12. Is it right for me?
  13. Common questions
  14. References

The short answer. A sleep apnea implant is a small device, placed in outpatient surgery, that treats moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea without a mask. Both FDA-approved implants for it work by hypoglossal nerve stimulation: while you sleep, mild electrical pulses reach the nerve that moves your tongue, the tongue moves forward, and the airway behind it stays open. Inspire stimulates one side of the nerve and Genio stimulates both. They are meant for adults who have not been able to use CPAP and whose airway anatomy fits.

How does hypoglossal nerve stimulation work?

A sleep apnea implant keeps the tongue from falling back into the throat during sleep. The hypoglossal nerve controls the muscles of the tongue, including the one that pushes it forward. An electrode on that nerve delivers gentle pulses through the night, the tongue moves forward, and the space behind it stays open. Nothing is cut away or reshaped. Because the implant works only while it is switched on, you use it every night, the way you would use CPAP.

Why the airway closes. When you fall asleep, the muscles that hold your airway open relax. In obstructive sleep apnea that relaxation lets the tongue and the soft tissues of the throat fall back and block the airway, again and again through the night. Each block is an apnea (breathing stops) or a hypopnea (breathing becomes shallow), and the number of them per hour of sleep is your apnea–hypopnea index, or AHI. An AHI of 15 to 30 is moderate sleep apnea; 30 and above is severe.

When it stimulates. Inspire senses your breathing and stimulates as you breathe in. Genio does not sense breathing; it runs a steady on-and-off cycle through the night.

What it does not do. It does not treat central sleep apnea, where the brain does not send the signal to breathe. That condition has its own implant, described further down this page.

Which sleep apnea implant devices are FDA-approved?

For obstructive sleep apnea, two hypoglossal nerve stimulators are FDA-approved. Inspire, approved in 2014, stimulates the nerve on one side and keeps its generator and battery in the chest. Genio, approved in August 2025, stimulates both sides from a single implant under the chin and has no implanted battery; you power it each night with a chip clipped to an adhesive patch. Inspire is a brand name. Hypoglossal nerve stimulation is the therapy both devices deliver.

FeatureInspireGenio
FDA approval2014[1]August 2025[2]
Sides stimulatedOne (unilateral), usually the rightBoth (bilateral)
What is implantedA stimulation lead with a cuff on the nerve, and a generator below the collarboneOne small stimulator under the chin, about 6 grams
IncisionsTwo: under the jaw and on the upper chestOne, under the chin
PowerSealed battery, about 10 to 11 years, then an outpatient replacementNo implanted battery; an external chip on a disposable patch powers it each night
When it stimulatesIn step with each breath inA fixed on-and-off cycle; it does not sense breathing
Nightly routinePress a handheld remote at bedtime and again in the morningApply a fresh patch, clip on the charged chip, start therapy in a phone app
AHI range in the label15 to 10015 to 65
BMIUp to 40 in FDA labeling; Medicare requires under 35No limit in the indication; not established above 32[3]
Turned on after surgeryAbout 1 monthNot before 8 weeks[3]
MRIInspire IV and V: full body at 1.5 and 3 tesla, under scan conditions1.5 and 3 tesla under scan conditions, at least 8 weeks after surgery, with the chip and patch kept out of the scanner room[3]
Published follow-upFive-year trial results and a large real-world registry, both from systems implanted before Inspire VTwelve-month trial results

Each device has its own guide on this site: the Inspire sleep apnea implant and the Genio implant for sleep apnea.

One detail explains a lot of confusing pictures online. Inspire systems through Inspire IV had a third part: a breathing-sensor wire placed between two ribs. The current model, Inspire V, builds that sensor into the generator, so it has no separate sensing lead. Diagrams that show a breathing-sensor wire along the ribs describe the earlier hardware, and so do the collapsed-lung risks you may read about, which came from that rib wire.

Unilateral or bilateral: does stimulating both sides work better?

It is a sensible idea, and it is the idea Genio was built around, but it has not been shown. No randomized trial has compared one side with two. The only head-to-head study included 20 patients, 19 of them analyzed, and none of its comparisons reached statistical significance; a study that small can show neither a difference nor equivalence.[4] I implant both devices, and this is not a reason I would steer you to one over the other. The differences that do drive the choice, such as the nightly patch, the chest incision, the battery, and the length of the track record, are laid out in my Inspire vs Genio comparison.

Who is a candidate for a sleep apnea implant?

The usual candidate is an adult with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea who has not been able to use CPAP successfully. The apnea has to be mostly obstructive rather than central, weight has to fall within the limits in the device’s labeling, and a sedated look at the airway has to show that the soft palate does not close in a complete ring. Most of these limits come from the people the pivotal trials studied, and insurers often apply stricter versions of them.

  • Moderate to severe sleep apnea. An AHI of 15 to 100 for Inspire and 15 to 65 for Genio. Neither device is indicated for mild sleep apnea, an AHI under 15.
  • CPAP has not worked. Either you cannot tolerate it, or it has not controlled your apnea, after a serious attempt with your sleep team: different masks, pressure changes, sometimes BiPAP. Genio’s label also names oral appliances and weight-loss medication among the treatments that must have failed, not been tolerated, or not been suitable for you.[2]
  • Mostly obstructive events. Central and mixed apneas together should make up less than 25% of the total.
  • Body mass index (BMI). Inspire’s FDA labeling goes up to 40; Medicare requires under 35, and some commercial plans stop at 32. Genio’s approved indication sets no BMI limit, but its labeling says safety and effectiveness have not been established above 32, which was the trial’s ceiling.[3] I hold to 32 in my own practice.
  • No complete concentric collapse at the soft palate on drug-induced sleep endoscopy (see the next section).
  • Age 22 or older. Inspire’s indication also covers ages 18 to 21, and adolescents 13 to 18 with Down syndrome, under additional conditions.[1] Genio’s labeling says safety and effectiveness have not been established above age 75.[3]

Your insurer’s written criteria decide whether the operation is paid for, and they are frequently tighter than the FDA label, especially on BMI.

What does the evaluation involve?

Two tests decide candidacy. A recent sleep study, either a home sleep test or an in-lab study, gives your AHI and shows how many events are central. Then drug-induced sleep endoscopy (DISE), a 15- to 20-minute look at your airway under light sedation, shows where and how it collapses. Alongside those, your surgeon reviews your CPAP history, examines your nose and throat, and checks what your insurer requires.

The sleep study. Insurers want it to be recent; Medicare asks for one within the last two years.

DISE. Once IV sedation has you asleep, a thin flexible camera is passed through your nose; there is no incision, and most people go home within an hour. I have done hundreds of these exams.

The finding that usually rules out a hypoglossal nerve stimulator in the United States is complete concentric collapse: the soft palate closing in from all sides at once, in the shape of a funnel, rather than front to back. Moving the tongue forward tends not to open that pattern, and the pattern is common: in a series of 1,761 sleep endoscopies, about 22% of patients had it.[5] In the trial behind Genio’s approval, 687 people consented to screening and 115 were implanted; 64 were turned away for this finding alone.[2] If your DISE shows it, a palate operation can often change that pattern, and an implant may become an option afterward.

What happens during sleep apnea implant surgery?

Hypoglossal nerve stimulator implantation is outpatient surgery under general anesthesia, and most people go home the same day. Inspire uses two small incisions, one under the jaw and one on the upper chest; Genio uses one, under the chin. In my practice either operation usually takes about an hour of actual operating. The implant is tested before you wake up, but it stays switched off while you heal, so therapy starts weeks after surgery, not on the day of it.

Inspire. Through the incision under the jaw, the surgeon finds the branches of the hypoglossal nerve that push the tongue forward and places the stimulation cuff on them. The generator goes into a pocket below the collarbone, and the connecting wire runs under the skin of the neck between the two.

Genio. Through the single incision under the chin, the implant is placed beneath the muscles that push the tongue forward, where it reaches the nerve branches on both sides. Nothing is placed in the chest.

What is recovery like after a sleep apnea implant?

Recovery is mostly soreness and swelling. Pain usually settles within one to two weeks, most people plan on two weeks off work, and lifting more than 15 pounds waits two weeks. Most people are back to normal activity in about three weeks after Inspire and in two to four weeks after Genio. The implant is switched on at a later visit: about one month after Inspire surgery, and no sooner than eight weeks after Genio surgery.

After activation, the strength of stimulation is raised in steps over several weeks. A follow-up sleep study, about three to four months after Inspire surgery and four to six months after Genio surgery, then checks how well the therapy is working, and the settings are adjusted from there.

The instructions I give my own patients for each device, including wound care, icing, the activity limits and the warning signs that should prompt a call, are on my Inspire and Genio recovery instructions page.

How well does the sleep apnea implant work?

In the trials that led to approval, about two-thirds of patients met the standard definition of surgical success at one year: their AHI fell by at least half and ended under 20. That was 66% with Inspire and 63.5% with Genio, counting everyone implanted. Average apnea counts fell by roughly two-thirds. A sleep apnea implant improves sleep apnea substantially for most people, but it is a treatment, not a cure, and about a third fall short of that bar.

  • Inspire, STAR trial (126 patients). The median AHI fell from 29.3 to 9.0 at one year, and 66% (83 of 126) met the success definition.[6] At five years, counting all 126 (with each missing study filled in from that patient’s last result, and deaths and removals counted as failures), 63% met it.[7]
  • Inspire, ADHERE registry (routine practice in the US and Germany). The median AHI fell from 34 to 7 about a year after surgery, 81% cut their AHI by at least half and to 20 or lower, the median Epworth sleepiness score dropped from 12 to 6, and 94% would choose the surgery again.[8]
  • Genio, DREAM trial (115 patients). Counting all 115 implanted, 63.5% (73 of 115) met the success definition at twelve months.[2] Among the 89 who had a twelve-month sleep study, the average AHI fell from 27.8 to 9.5.[9]
  • My own patients (111 with Inspire). The average AHI fell from 32.8 to 10.4, and 77.5% met a stricter definition that requires ending under 15 rather than under 20.[10]

All of the published Inspire results above, my own included, come from systems implanted before Inspire V. The stimulation lead, and the way it moves the tongue, did not change, so these numbers carry over; the outcome literature has not yet caught up with the current model.

Why published success rates vary. Success rates differ widely from one study to the next, and much of that comes from how the follow-up sleep study was done. A titration study in a sleep lab scores your apnea at the single best setting found that night. An all-night study at one fixed setting scores the whole night. In 61 patients tested both ways, the same devices produced a success rate of 80% on the titration study and 46% on the all-night home study.[11] Registry results such as ADHERE’s mix both kinds of study. When you are quoted a success rate, ask which kind of study produced it. I measure results with all-night home studies wherever I can.

What are the risks and side effects of a sleep apnea implant?

Most side effects are temporary: soreness, swelling, and stimulation that feels strange at first. Serious procedure-related events occurred in under 2% of patients in the first year of Inspire’s pivotal trial;[6] in Genio’s trial, 7 to 11% had a serious device- or procedure-related event in the first year, depending on how reoperations are counted. Each device also carries its own risks. Inspire has a chest incision and, years later, a battery-replacement operation. Genio has a nightly adhesive patch that irritated the skin of about one patient in four in its trial.

  • With either device. Bleeding, infection, swelling at the incision, and discomfort from the stimulation.
  • Inspire. In my own study of 1,014 matched patients in each group, drawn from a national records network, complications within 90 days were 2.3% after Inspire implantation (the earlier hardware, with the rib sensor wire) against 20.1% after traditional palate surgery.[12] Its own risks are bleeding at the chest pocket, tongue soreness or abrasion, temporary weakness of the tongue or lower lip, a tight band in the neck if the connecting wire scars in place (neck exercises after surgery help prevent it), and the generator replacement. In the largest real-world analysis, about 1.5% of patients needed a revision within the first year and about 3.6% by three years; about 2.7% had the device removed by three years.[13] These figures come from implants made before Inspire V. The revision rate includes repairs of the old rib sensor wire, which the current device does not have, so revision should be less common today; the removal rate carries over.
  • Genio. Through twelve months, 13 of 115 trial patients (11.3%) had a serious event related to the device or the procedure; FDA notes the rate is 7% if the repositioning and replacement operations that investigators did not classify as serious are left out. Skin irritation from the patch affected 24.3% and difficulty swallowing 17.4%. Through 24 months, 11.3% had a repositioning, revision or removal.[2]

How I counsel patients about the Inspire risks, with the published numbers and what I do to prevent them, is on my Inspire risks and complications page; Genio’s are covered in the risks section of my Genio guide.

How much does a sleep apnea implant cost?

The billed total for the device, the operation, the facility and anesthesia generally runs from $30,000 to $65,000, but few patients pay anything close to that. Insurance covers Inspire when a plan’s criteria are met, and a national analysis of commercial-insurance claims put the median out-of-pocket cost of hypoglossal nerve stimulator surgery at $263.[14] What you pay is set by your own plan: its deductible, its coinsurance and its out-of-pocket maximum.

I work through that math for commercial plans, Medicare and the battery replacement in my guide to what Inspire costs, and you can compare your insurer’s written policy with your own sleep study and BMI using my sleep apnea implant insurance checker. Genio’s costs are arranged differently: there is no battery-replacement operation, but its nightly patches are an ongoing supply, and no US price for them has been published.

Is there an implant for central sleep apnea?

Yes, but it treats a different disease. In central sleep apnea the airway stays open; the brain intermittently fails to send the signal to breathe. An implant made for central sleep apnea, the remedē System, was approved by the FDA in October 2017. It works by transvenous phrenic nerve stimulation: it stimulates the nerve that drives the diaphragm, so you take a breath. It is approved for moderate to severe central sleep apnea in adults, it is not intended for obstructive sleep apnea, and it is not a device I implant.[15]

The remedē generator sits under the skin of the upper chest, with thin wire leads threaded through veins in the chest to lie near the phrenic nerve; it works only during your usual sleeping hours, when you are lying still.[15] In its pivotal trial, all 151 patients received the implant and were then randomly assigned to have it switched on or left off for six months: 51% of the stimulated group (35 of 68) cut their AHI by at least half, against 11% (8 of 73) of those whose device was off.[16]

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine’s 2025 guideline suggests phrenic nerve stimulation for adults with primary central sleep apnea or central sleep apnea due to heart failure. Because it requires an invasive procedure, is not available everywhere and is costly, the guideline says other treatments may be more appropriate to consider first; its other recommendations include positive airway pressure, oxygen and medication.[17] If your sleep study shows mostly central events, the sleep medicine physician who reads it is the right person to ask about this device.

Is a sleep apnea implant right for me?

It can be a good choice if you have moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea, CPAP has not worked for you after a serious attempt, and your sleep study and DISE fit. It is not the right first step if CPAP is working. When CPAP is worn through the night, it is still the most effective, safest and least expensive treatment we have, and when it is working, I tell my patients to stick with it.

These are the situations where I steer the conversation somewhere else:

  • Complete concentric collapse at the soft palate on DISE. A palate operation may need to come first.
  • A BMI well above the device limit. Weight management usually deserves the first attempt.
  • Mostly central apnea. A hypoglossal nerve stimulator treats the wrong problem; your sleep medicine team has treatments designed for central apnea, including the implant described above.
  • No serious CPAP trial yet. Different masks, humidification and pressure changes come first.
  • Anatomy that points elsewhere, such as large tonsils, where a more targeted operation may do more.

If you are a candidate and are weighing Inspire against Genio, the Inspire vs Genio decision tool walks through the trade-offs that separate them. It takes about five minutes, asks for no name or contact details, and ends in a question sheet you can print and take to your consultation.

Common questions about sleep apnea implants

What is a hypoglossal nerve stimulator?

A hypoglossal nerve stimulator is a small implanted device that treats obstructive sleep apnea by sending mild electrical pulses to the hypoglossal nerve, the nerve that moves the tongue, during sleep. The tongue moves forward and the airway stays open. It is what most people mean by a sleep apnea implant. Two are FDA-approved in the United States: Inspire, which stimulates one side of the nerve, and Genio, which stimulates both.

Is Inspire the only sleep apnea implant?

No. Inspire, approved in 2014, was the first hypoglossal nerve stimulator the FDA approved; it stimulates the nerve on one side, in step with your breathing, and its battery sits in the chest. Genio, approved in August 2025, is the second; it stimulates both sides and has no implanted battery. Both treat obstructive sleep apnea. A different kind of implant, remedē, treats central sleep apnea by stimulating the nerve that drives the diaphragm.

Who qualifies for a hypoglossal nerve stimulator implant?

Usually adults 22 or older with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea (an AHI of 15 to 100 for Inspire, 15 to 65 for Genio) who have not succeeded with CPAP, whose events are mostly obstructive, whose BMI is within the device and insurance limits, and whose drug-induced sleep endoscopy shows no complete concentric collapse at the soft palate.

How long after surgery is the implant turned on?

The implant stays off while you heal. Inspire is usually turned on about one month after surgery. Genio’s labeling says it should not be activated for eight weeks; in its pivotal trial, activation was done at about two months. Settings are then adjusted over the following months, with a follow-up sleep study to check the result.

Does a sleep apnea implant cure sleep apnea?

No. It treats sleep apnea rather than curing it: it works only while it is switched on, so it is used every night. In the trials that led to approval, about two-thirds of patients cut their AHI by at least half and ended under 20 at one year, and average apnea counts fell by about two-thirds. Some people do much better than that, and a small number get little benefit.

Can I have an MRI with a sleep apnea implant?

Usually, under conditions. Inspire IV and V allow full-body MRI at 1.5 and 3 tesla under specific scan conditions; the oldest Inspire model, 3024, cannot have an MRI. Genio is MR Conditional at 1.5 and 3 tesla from eight weeks after surgery, with the external chip and patch kept out of the scanner room. Show your implant card to the radiology team before any scan.

How long does a sleep apnea implant battery last?

On average, Inspire’s sealed battery lasts about 10 to 11 years, and most last at least 7; your settings and nightly use decide where yours falls. Replacing it is an outpatient operation: the generator is swapped and the lead on the nerve stays in place. Genio has no implanted battery: an external chip on the nightly patch powers it, so there is no battery-replacement operation.

Is a sleep apnea implant covered by insurance?

Inspire is covered by Medicare and most major commercial insurers when their written criteria are met, and those criteria are often stricter than the FDA label, especially on BMI. Genio was approved in August 2025; Medicare has set payment rates for it, and individual claims are decided case by case under Medicare’s existing criteria for these devices. Commercial coverage for Genio is still developing, so check with your insurer.

References

Each entry notes who funded or wrote it.

  1. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Premarket approval P130008, Inspire upper airway stimulation system. FDA PMA database · Summary of Safety and Effectiveness Data, supplement S090 (June 8, 2023) — Regulatory record; original approval 2014, with later supplements. The S090 summary gives the current indications for use, including ages 18 to 21 and adolescents 13 to 18 with Down syndrome.
  2. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Summary of Safety and Effectiveness Data (SSED), PMA P240024 — Genio System 2.1. Approved August 8, 2025. accessdata.fda.gov — Regulatory document. The DREAM trial it reviews was designed, funded and conducted by the manufacturer.
  3. Nyxoah. Genio System 2.1 Surgeon Manual (IS Model #2954), FDA labeling for PMA P240024. accessdata.fda.gov — Manufacturer labeling: the eight-week activation wait, the MRI conditions, and the limits (BMI above 32, age above 75) beyond which safety and effectiveness are not established. Confirm current conditions with the manufacturer before any scan.
  4. Heiser C, Sommer JU, Hofauer B, et al. Bilateral vs unilateral hypoglossal nerve stimulation in patients with obstructive sleep apnea. OTO Open. 2022;6(3):2473974X221109794. Free full text · doi:10.1177/2473974X221109794 — Lead author is an investigator in trials run by both manufacturers; 20 patients implanted, 19 analyzed.
  5. Schoustra E, Leentjens M, van Maanen JP, et al. Predicting complete concentric collapse at the palatal level during drug-induced sleep endoscopy: an analysis of 1761 cases. Sleep Breath. 2025;29(1):22. doi:10.1007/s11325-024-03172-4 — Independent.
  6. Strollo PJ Jr, Soose RJ, Maurer JT, et al. Upper-airway stimulation for obstructive sleep apnea. N Engl J Med. 2014;370(2):139–149. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1308659 — The STAR pivotal trial. Industry-funded and industry-conducted.
  7. Woodson BT, Strohl KP, Soose RJ, et al. Upper airway stimulation for obstructive sleep apnea: 5-year outcomes. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2018;159(1):194–202. doi:10.1177/0194599818762383 — Industry-supported. The 63% counts all 126 patients, with missing studies carried forward from each patient’s last result and deaths and device removals as failures; among the 71 who volunteered for a fifth-year study it was 75%.
  8. Heiser C, Steffen A, Boon M, et al. Post-approval upper airway stimulation predictors of treatment effectiveness in the ADHERE registry. Eur Respir J. 2019;53(1):1801405. Free full text · doi:10.1183/13993003.01405-2018 — Lead author reports grants and fees from Inspire Medical Systems during the study. Final-visit results, about a year after implant.
  9. Woodson BT, Kent DT, Huntley C, et al. Bilateral hypoglossal nerve stimulation for obstructive sleep apnea: a nonrandomized clinical trial. J Clin Sleep Med. 2025;21(11):1883–1891. Free full text · doi:10.5664/jcsm.11822 — The DREAM pivotal trial. Industry-funded and industry-conducted.
  10. Nord RS, Fitzpatrick T IV, Pingree G, Islam A, Chafin A. Should lateral wall collapse be a contraindication for hypoglossal nerve stimulation? Am J Otolaryngol. 2024;45(1):104053. doi:10.1016/j.amjoto.2023.104053 — My own series: 111 patients I implanted. All-night home sleep tests where available, titration values otherwise, a limitation stated in the paper. No funding received.
  11. Kaffenberger TM, Sina EM, Hambach B, et al. How we measure hypoglossal nerve stimulator outcome matters: titration vs single amplitude efficacy sleep studies. J Clin Sleep Med. 2025;21(1):47–53. Free full text · doi:10.5664/jcsm.11328 — Single center; 61 patients with the unilateral device, each tested both ways. The 80% and 46% use the under-15 definition.
  12. Nord R, Fitzpatrick T, DeShazo JP, Reiter ER. Comparison of readmission and complication rates between traditional sleep surgery and hypoglossal nerve stimulation. Laryngoscope Investig Otolaryngol. 2022;7(5):1659–1666. Free full text · doi:10.1002/lio2.883 — My own study. Patients were identified by a breathing-sensor billing code, so all had the earlier hardware.
  13. Moroco AE, Wei Z, Byrd I, et al. Device-related outcomes following hypoglossal nerve stimulator implantation. J Clin Sleep Med. 2024;20(9):1497–1503. Free full text · doi:10.5664/jcsm.11176 — Manufacturer post-market surveillance data; two authors are Inspire employees.
  14. Lenze NR, Perera CD, Chhabra KR, Scott JW, Dedhia RC, Brenner MJ. Out-of-pocket costs and surprise billing in otolaryngology: a national database analysis. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2025;173(6):1393–1402. Free full text · doi:10.1002/ohn.70035 — Commercial claims (MarketScan), adults 18–64, 2014–2022. Independent.
  15. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Premarket approval P160039, remedē System (implanted phrenic nerve stimulator for central sleep apnea). Approved October 6, 2017. FDA PMA database · FDA device summary · FDA news release — Regulatory record; the news release states that the device is not intended for obstructive sleep apnea. The applicant, Respicardia, is now part of ZOLL Medical.
  16. Costanzo MR, Ponikowski P, Javaheri S, et al. Transvenous neurostimulation for central sleep apnoea: a randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2016;388(10048):974–982. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(16)30961-8 — The remedē pivotal trial. Funded by the manufacturer.
  17. Badr MS, Khayat RN, Allam JS, et al. Treatment of central sleep apnea in adults: an American Academy of Sleep Medicine clinical practice guideline. J Clin Sleep Med. 2025;21(12):2181–2191. doi:10.5664/jcsm.11858 — Professional-society guideline. The phrenic nerve stimulation recommendation is conditional, based on very low certainty evidence.

Disclosures

I consulted for Inspire Medical Systems until 2025 and consult for AvivoMed. I have received research support from Nyxoah, the maker of Genio, and have been a paid member of the clinical events committee for Nyxoah-sponsored trials, including ACCCESS and BREATHE. Full disclosures are on my disclosures page.

No manufacturer reviewed, funded or contributed to this page. Industry-funded studies are labeled where cited.

Related reading

Try “success rate”, “BMI”, “Medicare”, “battery”, or “concentric collapse”.