Boston Scientific Refines its Spine Stimulator System

Mask the pain.

That is the premise behind the latest pain relief device from Boston Scientific Corp. The Natick, Mass.-based company has developed two spinal cord stimulation (SCS) lead splitters for its Precision Plus spinal cord stimulator system. The leads deliver electrical pulses that mask back pain signals on their way to the brain.

A news release announcing the launch of the splitters as well as its approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration calls the product “the world’s first rechargeable SCS device for the management of chronic pain of the trunk, back and/or limbs.” The W4 and D4 splitters each enable multi-site placement of up to four leads, according to the company.

“Spinal cord stimulation is an important treatment option for chronic pain,” said Giancarlo Barolat, M.D., medical director of Barolat Neuroscience in Denver, Colo. “Boston Scientific’s lead splitters give pain management physicians more choices to help optimize pain relief when using the Precision Plus System.”

The Precision Pain System is designed to mask pain by sending electrical signals along the spinal cord to the brain. The signals trick the brain into perceiving the pain signals as something that is pleasurable. The system, adapted fro the company’s work with cochlear implant technology, is aimed at patients whose chronic pain (in the torso or limbs) cannot be relieved by physical therapy, drugs or surgery.

Besides expanding its array of neurostimulation products, Boston Scientific’s new lead splitters give the company the opportunity to capture a larger share of the neurostimulation device market. A Frost & Sullivan report estimated that SCS technologies garnered about 70 percent of total neurostimulation product sales in 2006. Frost & Sullivan expect the market to grow by more than 204 percent by 2013.