Founder, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer & President, INSPIRE MEDICAL SYSTEM
Tim Herbert, Chairman + CEO, Inspire Medical Systems Joins NYSE TV
About Timothy Herbert
In a July 2025 interview on NYSE TV, Tim Herbert discussed the origins and development of Inspire Medical Systems, which he founded in 2007. He stated that the company was created to address obstructive sleep apnea in patients who cannot benefit from CPAP therapy, citing limited adherence to that treatment. Herbert described the company's technology as an implanted neurostimulator that stimulates the hypoglossal nerve to keep the airway open during sleep. He noted that the company uses artificial intelligence to analyze patient data and improve treatment outcomes. Herbert also spoke about Minnesota's role as a hub for medical technology, referencing companies such as Medtronic, Boston Scientific, Abbott, and St. Jude that originated in the Minneapolis area. He said that Inspire Medical Systems was spun out from Medtronic and that the region's engineering talent and resources support the company's development. Herbert highlighted the recent launch of the company's fifth-generation device and stated that the company is working on future generations, with a focus on improving outcomes for patients and experiences for surgeons and sleep physicians.
Transcript (14 segments)
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Interviewer0:00
Welcome back to NYC TV Live. Minnesota-based, NYC-listed company, Inspire Medical Systems, is on a mission to create innovative and minimally invasive solutions for patients with obstructive sleep apnea. Tim Herbert, the founder, chair, and CEO of Inspire Medical Systems, told me what led him to launch the company back in 2007. Let's take a listen.
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Tim Herbert0:22
Well, the need, of course. We treat patients who have obstructive sleep apnea and can't benefit from the primary therapy, which is a mask they wear called a CPAP procedure. We knew that the adherence to that therapy was limited. So there are so many people not being properly treated with a serious disease like obstructive sleep apnea. So we set out to develop a new technology to be able to address that. And that's what we've accomplished with the Inspire system, which has been approved in the United States since 2014.
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Interviewer0:57
Wow. And what about this technology of yours stands out in the field?
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Tim Herbert1:02
Well, the key to it is it works inside your body. It acts as an implanted device or a neurostimulator that stimulates the hypoglossal nerve just underneath your chin that holds your airway open while you sleep, thereby preventing obstructive sleep apnea and allowing you to get a restful night's sleep. Having the device inside the body is so unique to Inspire and has been very exciting over the last several years. Now we've treated over 100,000 patients in the United States.
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Interviewer1:40
What role is artificial intelligence playing in your company's work and the solutions that you're providing?
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Tim Herbert1:47
Well, what's most important about our device is every employee focuses on patient outcomes. The best way to monitor those outcomes is to collect that data, and we use AI as a means to help identify what areas are having the greatest success and what areas we can improve upon. So it's actually helping us develop our technology to be even more proficient and to treat patients even better.
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Interviewer2:15
Inspire Medical Systems is based in Golden Valley, right outside of Minneapolis. What are some key assets that the country should know about Minnesota?
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Tim Herbert2:23
Well, the key to Minnesota is it's always been a high-tech hub. Back in the old days when we used to have mainframe computers, they were based here in Minneapolis. There's always been a very strong engineering core to this area. Most recently, over the last 40 or 50 years, it's really been focused on medical technology. Some of the big names—Medtronic, Boston Scientific, Abbott, St. Jude—have originated and reside here in Minneapolis. Ourselves, we spun up from Medtronic. We did the initial work inside Medtronic and now have created our organization staying in Minnesota. The whole key to it is it's such a technical hub for medical technology. It's appropriate that we continue to develop here, and we have the resources available to really bring the high technology platforms that we have.
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Interviewer3:20
How does the ecosystem of corporations in Minnesota work together?
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Tim Herbert3:27
Again, I focus on medtech or medical technology. We have something called Medical Alley, which is a street where all the major medtech companies exist. There's an organized group that talks about how to continue to grow the infrastructure around medical technology, making sure we have the proper skill sets available and the resources to support all the great ideas that come out of this engineering talent, to be able to develop more technologies that can help society and help patients with unmet disease needs.
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Interviewer4:08
How do you think Minnesota can retain a thriving headquarters for the economy?
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Tim Herbert4:15
I think by keeping the investment strong in Minnesota and showing to the world and to all investors that Minnesota is a great place to invest in medical technology. We have such a wealth and depth of knowledge and history in the development of medtech that it's really important for us to stay focused on that, continue to show our commitment, and make sure it's a hub, a resource for new ideas and new companies to start out and get investments and grow into companies such as Inspire.
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Interviewer4:54
What are your biggest areas of focus for Inspire's future?
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Tim Herbert4:58
It's all about the patient. If we can always focus on the patient and patient outcomes and making sure they have the best possible outcome with Inspire therapy, that only helps us grow further. From that, we can focus on our new technology. We just launched our fifth-generation Inspire device this past quarter, very exciting, and we are already working on our next generations after that. By really focusing on the patients, making sure you understand not only the patients but the surgeons and the sleep physicians, and making sure you improve their experience with Inspire therapy, that kind of drives the talented staff we have here at Inspire.