The device, about the size of a matchbox, works by stimulating the muscles responsible for keeping the airways open during sleep.
The high-tech implant is so advanced it can be programmed to switch itself on at the patient's usual bedtime and turn itself off around the time they wake up.
Noisy nights: Sleep apnoea affects three million Britons
Noisy nights: Sleep apnoea affects three million Britons
The patient also has a hand-held device to control the implant, in case they decide to stay up late or have a lie-in.
Although the device - called the Apnex System - is still undergoing testing, it could eventually help thousands of people who suffer from sleep apnoea, the snoringrelated condition that affects around three million Britons.
As sleep begins, the muscles in the airway relax. For most people this does not pose a problem. But in sleep apnoea it leads to a complete collapse, which shuts off breathing for at least ten seconds.
Once the brain realises breathing has stopped, it sends a signal for the airway muscles to contract again. This opens the airway and the sufferer normally wakes with a jolt.
In mild sleep apnoea, this can happen about once every ten minutes. If it's severe, it means sleep can be disturbed every couple of minutes.
Very few people remember waking up at all because they fall asleep again within seconds. Yet the cumulative effect is that they feel exhausted during the day.
Sleep apnoea is common in middle-aged men who are overweight, because excess fat around the neck puts pressure on the airways during sleep. Left untreated,it can raise the risk of high blood pressure and heart attacks.
Treatment normally begins with trying to lose weight. But many patients need a therapy called nasal Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP). This involves wearing a mask over the nose and mouth during sleep.
The mask is attached to a machine that increases the pressure of the air that is being inhaled.
This prevents the airway from collapsing, improves sleep and leads to better concentration during the day.
The treatment is very effective. But some people find the mask cumbersome. And it must be worn every night.
Other devices include special dental splints, which are worn at night in much the same way as a mouth-guard.
These work by pulling the lower jaw forward, so that the airway cannot collapse. But as sleep apnoea is such a common ailment, scientists have been busy searching for other solutions. The Apnex implant could be the answer.
The patient is given a general anaesthetic and surgeons implant the device beneath the collarbone on the right side of the torso. Two leads are wired up to muscles in the chest. Their job is to monitor breathing rate.
A separate lead is then tunnelled under the skin to the hypoglossal nerve, which is found underneath the tongue and is responsible for activating the muscles around the throat.
When the device is turned on, the sensors in the chest tell it when the patient is breathing in and out. The implant then sends a signal to stimulate the nerve during inhalation.
Once the hypoglossal nerve has been stimulated, it gets the muscles around the throat working properly so breathing is not disrupted and there is no snoring. Trials are under way in the U.S. and Australia, and the implant could be available in the UK within three years.
Professor John Stradling, an expert in respiratory medicine at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford, said the science behind the device was 'entirely plausible' and that stimulating the hypoglossal nerve will keep sleep apnoea at bay.
But he added that previous attempts to make similar devices have had mixed results.
'They worked to some extent,' he said. 'But there were reports that patients could feel the device during the night, which kept them awake just as much as the sleep apnoea. And in some early models, the wires broke.
'It also involves surgery, whereas the current CPAP treatment does not. I think this device might suit a few people, but it is a long way from becoming standard treatment.'
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I guess, if you really love you husband and wife you can get used to if he snores. Maybe he have a heart problem that's why he snores.
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