Stimwave, a company based in Pompano Beach, Florida, won FDA clearance for its StimQ peripheral nerve stimulation system. The StimQ is the smallest neuromodulation device that has been available on the market and it can be used to target any peripheral nerve below the head and outside the spinal cord that is the source of pain.
The device is so small because it doesn’t have a battery, relying instead on wireless power transmission to give it the energy to stimulate the nerve. A device worn within the clothes is placed near where the StimQ is implanted to beam energy into the body to power the implant.
The StimQ delivered via a needle injection, but before a long term implantation a trial period is required with a temporary device. Once the trial period is over and the therapy deemed effective, the permanent implant is then inserted. Following implantation, patients are still able to receive most MRI scans as it’s is cleared for full body scanning, given certain precautions are taken.
“This is great news for many chronic pain patients who previously did not have a minimally-invasive implant option available for peripheral nerve-related pain and will continue to require frequent MRI scans throughout their body for management of their pain and monitoring of their current and future medical needs,” in a statement said Dr. Konstantin Slavin, professor of neurosurgery at University of Illinois at Chicago. “While PNS [peripheral nerve stimulation] has been shown in literature to be an effective treatment, for many years device placement has been difficult due to the bulk and length of cables, connectors and pulse generators needed to stimulate a small nerve target. This miniature wireless peripheral nerve stimulator that minimizes the need for surgery in patients who are already suffering from pain, while allowing on-going care with full body MRI scan capabilities may provide a viable, non-opioid option for long-term pain management.”
Stimwave hopes that its technology will not only make it a lot of money, but will also give people pain control options not currently available, thereby quelling more unneeded pain and preventing the overuse of opioids.
Flashback: Stimwave Freedom, World’s Smallest Neurostimulator, FDA Cleared for Back, Leg Pain…; SandShark Anchor for Fixating Stimwave’s Neurostimulators Cleared in Europe…
Product page: StimQ PNS System…
Via: Stimwave…
