Medtronic Initiates Trials for Motion-Sensing NeuroStimulators

Medtronic has announced the beginning of a prospective, multi-center, randomized U.S. clinical trial for its RestoreSensor neurostimulator, which uses motion sensors to detect changes in a patient’s posture and activity and then automatically adjusts the level of electrical stimulation needed for relief of chronic pain symptoms. The adaptive device uses an accelerometer with a closed-loop system to adjust the level of stimulation to manage pain in real-time – adjustments which, until now, must be performed manually on today’s neurostimulators by the patient with a remote control. Since the level of stimulation needed varies with the distance between the spinal cord and implanted electrodes, the motion-sensing implant eliminates the need for constant manual real-time adjustments whenever the patient changes his activity or position, such as standing upright or lying down.
The device also records and stores the frequency of posture and activity changes for later analysis by health care providers. RestoreSensor has CE Mark of approval in Europe and is under investigational use in the US.
Press release: Medtronic Announces Clinical Trial for Breakthrough Technology in Neurostimulation Therapy for Intractable Chronic Pain…