According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, between 50 and 70 million Americans suffer from sleep disorders. While some people struggle with insomnia, others have difficulty resting at night because of sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea is described as a “potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts” by Mayo Clinic. Fortunately for people with this disorder, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) just approved a sleep apnea implant that could make a regular good night’s sleep a reality.

Sleep apnea is considered one of the more serious sleep disorders because of the potential complications associated with it, which include a higher risk of stroke and congestive heart failure. While treatments, such as medications and Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) masks, have existed for sleep apnea for some time, the Inspire Upper Airway Stimulation implant will be particularly helpful for patients who can’t be treated with CPAP masks.

Check out the Inspire sleep apnea implant below.

The @US_FDA approves a first-of-its-kind implant to treat sleep apnea. https://t.co/pQghtwQxL7 pic.twitter.com/CVhQZln1ck

— [ Health News ] (@GoInsideHealth) May 3, 2014

The implant is the first fully installed implant to ever be approved by the FDA. According to Inspire, the sleep apnea implant works by delivering “mild stimulation to keep a patient’s airway open during sleep.”

View the graphic below to see what the sleep apnea implant looks after it has been surgically placed in the patient.

FDA clears obstructive Sleep Apnea Implant to overcome adherence issues http://t.co/ALUCS2DKnV #sleepapnea pic.twitter.com/5koPlt8aWX

— Ruth Ann Crystal, MD (@CatchTheBaby) May 6, 2014

“The FDA approval of Inspire therapy represents a new era of choice for a subset of patients with moderate to severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea who are unable to use CPAP,” said Tim Herbert, Inspire Medical Systems president and CEO. “All of us at Inspire Medical Systems are committed to improving the health and quality of life for these individuals with OSA, and we are excited to make this innovative and much needed treatment available to patients and physicians.”

As you can see below, the news that the FDA approved the sleep apnea implant has been met with a positive reaction:

Implant reduces sleep apnea episodes by 70 percent http://t.co/h1Dwiq2kZ3 via @FuturityNews. Good news for so many

— Anne Marie McKenzie- (@AMcKBrown) January 19, 2014

Nice to see a client getting good news. Report: FDA panel recommends @Inspire-Medical's sleep apnea implant http://t.co/FXHgR8XxY9

— Don Wright (@wrightdon) February 21, 2014

Image via Wikimedia Commons