Patent ID: 7980248

Claim:
A method for treating snoring and/or apnea of a patient comprising the steps of: incising a periosteum inferior to the hard palate with a cavitation tool, wherein the incising creates an incision, and wherein the cavitation tool comprises a needle comprising a posterior end, an anterior end, a channel extending the length of the needle from the posterior end of the needle to the anterior end of the needle, a blade wherein the blade is adapted and configured to slide through the channel and out the posterior end of the needle, and an incising edge at the posterior end of the needle for incising the periosteum inferior to the hard palate and/or for incising the soft palate; creating a cavity within the periosteum inferior to the hard palate and within a soft palate using the cavitation tool, the creating of the cavity comprising entering with the needle the periosteum inferior to the hard palate through the incision created by the cavitation tool, extending the blade through the channel of the needle wherein the blade extends posterior to the posterior end of the needle, and cutting a cavity in the hard and soft palate wherein the cutting comprises separating the periosteum from the hard palate and advancing the blade into the soft palate tissue; entering the cavity created within the periosteum inferior to the hard palate and the soft palate with an implant device loaded on an implant delivery tool, the implant delivery tool comprising an implant support upon which the device rests and a retractable sheath extending over at least a portion of the device and at least a portion of the implant support; and deploying the implant device into the cavity created within the periosteum inferior to the hard palate and within the soft palate, whereby the deploying comprises positioning the implant device within the cavity, wherein the implant device is loaded on the implant delivery tool, retracting the delivery tool sheath while keeping the implant device and the implant support fixed relative to each other and in a substantially fixed position within the cavity, removing the delivery tool from the cavity, and leaving the implant device within the cavity.