First procedure for chronic pain performed in India using Medtronic’s rechargeable spinal cord stimulator

INDIA – India Medtronic Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Medtronic plc, a global leader in healthcare technology, has announced the first clinical procedure in India using the Intellis spinal cord stimulation (SCS) platform.

The Intellis SCS platform is the world’s smallest SCS device, for the treatment of certain types of chronic intractable pain.

Dr. Paresh Doshi, director of neurosurgery at Mumbai’s Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre, successfully implanted the first Intellis device for pain management in an Indian patient.

SCS is one of several therapies available to treat chronic pain. It entails implanting a neurostimulator beneath the patient’s skin, which sends mild electrical impulses to the spine to prevent pain signals from reaching the brain.

Neurostimulation has been shown to provide effective long-term pain relief and improve quality of life, as well as a treatment option for patients interested in a non-drug alternative.

Respondents to an epidemiological telephonic survey in India with chronic pain were no longer able to exercise, sleep, maintain relationships with friends and family, or lead an independent lifestyle. Approximately 32% of patients missed 4 hours of work.

More than one-fifth of the adult Indian population suffers from chronic pain of some kind.

DTM SCS therapy, a differential target multiplexed spinal cord stimulation programming option, is available on the Intellis platform to treat patients with chronic pain.

In a randomized controlled trial, DTM SCS therapy demonstrated statistically significant and superior back pain relief for patients compared to conventional SCS on the Medtronic Intellis platform.

The Intellis platform, in addition to providing DTM SCS therapy, is a high-performance SCS device powered by proprietary Overdrive battery technology.

It recharges three times faster than traditional batteries and has minimal capacity fade after nine years (less than 5 per cent).

It is optimized for a wide range of energy demands and provides patients with effective long-term pain relief.

The neurostimulator features SureScan full-body MRI technology, allowing access to MRI anywhere in the body under certain conditions.

The Intellis platform includes AdaptiveStim technology, which can automatically adjust stimulation to maintain therapy dose.

By monitoring and providing activity data, snapshot reporting, powered by the Intellis accelerometer and the smart clinician app, transforms conversation from subjective to objective.

Physicians can assess progress and make changes to better meet the therapy needs of their patients.

Farther afield, Hugo, Medtronic’s robotic-assisted surgery system, recently made its European debut just a few months after receiving CE mark approval, and its first successful procedure on the continent was a robotic prostatectomy at Aalst’s Onze-Lieve-Vrouw Hospital.

The operation was led by Alexandre Mottrie, M.D., the hospital’s chief of urology.

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