C. Burton Wood, MD, assistant professor in the Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, is leading one of five pilot study sites across the country to assess a novel procedure that does not require any incisions to treat obstructive sleep apnea.

Obstructive sleep apnea is a breathing disorder characterized by frequent interruptions in breathing while asleep because of a blockage of the airway. It affects 25 million people in the United States and is associated with excessive sleepiness, increased risk of accidents, cardiovascular disease, and reduced quality of life.

Dr. Wood performed the first procedure for the Memphis site of the ARCTIC-3 pilot study in early May at Baptist Memorial Hospital - Collierville. The study is designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the Cryosa system technology, a proprietary treatment intended to improve and treat the symptoms and severity of obstructive sleep apnea by reducing the tissue in the tongue and soft palate through adipose cryolysis, a controlled cooling process for targeted cell reduction.

"A lot of the traditional sleep surgeries involve cutting the soft palate or a portion of the back of the throat and then suturing and rearranging these tissues to open things up more for sleep," Dr. Wood said. "This study procedure utilizes a device that rests on the soft palate and one that rests on the base of the tongue and selectively freezes the fatty tissue that lives right under the surface in those areas."

This procedure is intended to reduce oral tissue and open the airway without the need for masks, hoses, incisions, or implants, according to Cryosa.

"We know from preliminary studies that patients tend to tolerate this procedure better than some of the more traditional sleep surgeries," said Dr. Wood, a 2015 graduate of the UT Health Science Center College of Medicine. "It tends to lead to a quicker recovery process because there are no incisions. Ultimately, the goal is to obtain good outcomes from a sleep apnea standpoint and help patients to potentially come off of CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure machine) altogether."

The ARCTIC-3 Study trial plans to enroll up to 25 patients throughout sites in the U.S. The procedure was tested outside the U.S. prior to getting FDA approval in the U.S. to be able to do a trial here, Wood said.

Dr. Wood's clinical practice is located at 7675 Wolf River Circle in Germantown. His office can be reached at 901.737.3021. He is currently enrolling patients for this study.