New Spinal Cord Stimulation Neurostimulator Available for Chronic Pain

Medtronic announced the availability of the Intellis platform for the management of certain types of chronic intractable pain. The Intellis device is the smallest fully implantable spinal cord stimulation (SCS) neurostimulator. 

The Intellis platform records and monitors patient activity 24/7, which can be accessed by physicians to track and make treatment adjustments as needed. Specifically, it tracks and shares daily activities, body positions, and therapy usage. Unlike the battery performance issues seen with current SCS systems, the Intellis platform was designed with the Overdrive battery technology that can provide a full recharge in ~1 hour. 

The platform also utilizes SureScan MRI technology that allows MRI scans anywhere on the body under certain settings, and the AdaptiveStim technology that enables automatic adjustments to deliver the right dose of treatment to the right location.

Existing literature supports the use of neurostimulation as a non-pharmacological option to deliver long-term pain relief and to improve the patient’s quality of life. Some randomized-controlled trials have shown that SCS provides more effective pain relief than both re-operation and standard pharmacotherapy.

Dr. Lance Roy, pain medicine specialist at Duke University Medical Center, stated, “This platform represents a welcome new option for managing some kinds of chronic pain. New non-opioid treatment options are important given the national crisis related to opioid abuse.”

The Intellis platform is managed using the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 tablet interface. 

Follow @ClinicalPainAdv

Reference

Medtronic announces FDA approval and US launch of next generation spinal cord stimulator for chronic pain management [press release]. Medtronic. http://newsroom.medtronic.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=251324&p=RssLanding&cat=news&id=2301240 Updated September 18, 2017. Accessed October 6, 2017.

This article originally appeared on MPR