Sleep-related breathing disorders, which include obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), affect as much as 20 percent of the North American population. Oral appliances are a well-known and often preferred treatment option for patients who suffer from obstructive sleep apnea. Oral appliances only treat about 60 percent of OSA cases – and the challenge is selecting which patients will respond to the treatment. With Zephyr's MATRx Plus system, testing to determine treatment response happens before undergoing an expensive, time-consuming process. Zephyr's MATRx Plus is a home-based, patient-centric and easy-to-use system. Use of the MATRx Plus offers significant benefit to both the patient and the dentist by allowing a sleep physician to confidently prescribe treatment for OSA.
With the introduction of MATRx Plus to the dental market, Dentsply Sirona, Inc., and Zephyr start their cooperation. The goal is to bring together their experience in providing technologies and applications for OSA treatments. In conjunction with its investment, Dentsply Sirona has appointed Dr. Stefan Hehn, Vice President Imaging Systems, to Zephyr's board of directors to spearhead the cooperation. "I'm excited to work closely with the Zephyr team to integrate existing Dentsply Sirona products and technology with the MATRx and MATRx Plus to make a better, safer and faster dental solution to treat OSA. This will not only make dentists more productive, but also significantly enhance the patient experience," stated Dr. Hehn. "We are pleased to have Dr. Hehn join our board of independent corporate directors. Dr. Hehn not only brings a wealth of experience, but he also has a track record of successfully bringing new technologies and applications to the dental market", said Greg Ogrodnick, Zephyr's Board Chairman.
"Bringing on Dentsply Sirona as both an investor and strategic partner opens up a whole new world of opportunity. A significant challenge to any emerging technology company is building a path to market, and by partnering with a company of Dentsply Sirona's stature it increases credibility with our customers and provides an established and extensive network to create, build and deliver the best treatments possible for sleep-related breathing disorders," said Paul Cataford, Zephyr's Chief Executive Officer. "We are now one step closer to helping more people lead healthy and productive lives through better sleep." MATRx Plus is cleared in the US for diagnostic indications and approved in Canada for both diagnostic and theragnostic indications.
With SICAT Air Dentsply Sirona offers the first 3D solution that enables the analysis of the upper airways in the 3D volume and illustrates the workflow of an appliance-based treatment completely digitally through the combination of 3D imaging systems like Galileos and selected Orthophos SL 3D units, digital impressions of the CEREC Omnicam and the SICAT Air software. With this workflow, dental practitioners can quickly and easily order mandibular advancement appliances like OPTISLEEP by SICAT that reduce or alleviate the symptoms of mild to moderate OSA.
About Zephyr Sleep Technologies Inc.
Zephyr Sleep Technologies designs, develops and manufactures medical devices for diagnosis and treatment of sleep disordered breathing. Zephyr is now launching its second generation product, the MATRx Plus, which is a tablet-based and cloud-connected medical device designed for home use. The Company was created in 2010 and is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta.
About SICAT
SICAT is an innovative company which was established in 2004 as a joint venture between HICAT GmbH – a spin-off of the caesar research center – and Sirona Dental Systems GmbH. Active in three-dimensional imaging with a selection of products and solutions for dental implantology, sleep apnea, functional diagnostics and therapy as well as oral and maxillofacial surgery, SICAT concentrates on the development of user-friendly and cost-efficient software and hardware.
About Dentsply Sirona
Dentsply Sirona is the world's largest manufacturer of professional dental products and technologies, with a 130-year history of innovation and service to the dental industry and patients worldwide. Dentsply Sirona develops, manufactures, and markets a comprehensive solutions offering including dental and oral health products as well as other consumable medical devices under a strong portfolio of world class brands. As The Dental Solutions Company, Dentsply Sirona's products provide innovative, high-quality and effective solutions to advance patient care and deliver better, safer and faster dentistry. Dentsply Sirona's global headquarters is located in York, Pennsylvania, and the international headquarters is based in Salzburg, Austria. The company's shares are listed in the United States on NASDAQ under the symbol XRAY.
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Tuesday, 14 January, 2025