Sublingual electrical stimulation of the tongue during wakefulness and sleep

• Published in: Respiration physiology 2001-09, Vol.127 (2), p.217-226
• Main Authors: Oliven, Arie, Schnall, Robert P, Pillar, Giora, Gavriely, Noam, Odeh, Majed
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Airways, upper, muscle tone, sleep; Biological and medical sciences; Electric Stimulation; Humans; Hypopharynx - physiology; Mammals, humans; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Mouth Floor - physiology; Muscle Tonus - physiology; Muscle, genioglossus, tongue; Non tumoral diseases; Otorhinolaryngology. Stomatology; Polysomnography; Respiratory Mechanics; Sleep - physiology; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive - physiopathology; Sleep, obstructive apnea; Tongue - physiology; Upper respiratory tract, upper alimentary tract, paranasal sinuses, salivary glands: diseases, semeiology; Wakefulness - physiology
• ISSN: 0034-5687
• DOI: 10.1016/S0034-5687(01)00254-7

Pharyngeal obstruction in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is thought to result from decreased upper airway muscle tone during sleep. The goal of the present study was to estimate the role of the tongue muscles in maintaining pharyngeal patency during sleep. Using non-invasive, sub-lingual surface electrical stimulation (ES), we measured tongue protrusion force during wakefulness and upper airway resistance during sleep in seven healthy subjects and six patients with OSA. During wakefulness, ES produced similar protrusion forces in healthy subjects and patients with OSA. ES of the anterior sublingual surface, causing preferential contraction of the genioglossus, resulted in smaller effects than combined ES of the anterior and lateral surface, which also stimulated tongue retractors. During sleep, trans-pharyngeal resistance decreased and peak inspiratory flow rate increased from 319±24 to 459±27 and from 58±16 to 270±35 ml/sec for healthy subjects and OSA patients, respectively ( P