Boston Scientific Presents Spinal Cord Stimulator Data

Natick, Mass.-based Boston Scientific Corporation presented new data about its Precision Spectra spinal cord stimulator (SCS) system (pictured left) at the North American Neuromodulation Society 17th annual meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada, held Dec. 5-8. According to study data, the device provided highly significant pain relief three months after implantation.

Precision Spectra is the first SCS System designed to improve pain relief using its Illumina 3-D Software, a three dimensional anatomy-driven computer model. By providing 32 contacts—twice the number of contacts available with other SCS systems—the Precision Spectra system reportedly offers more coverage of the spinal cord for the management of chronic pain.

The retrospective study of up to 213 consecutive patients at 13 centers focused on patients with chronic pain who were treated with the Precision Spectra SCS System. Results include:

• A 94 percent SCS trial therapy success rate;
• A significant reduction in pain from an average baseline score of 7.8, on a 10-point scale, to an average score of 3.2 at three months post implant (in the 113 patients who have reached the three-month follow up);
• A significant reduction in low back pain from an average baseline score of 7, on a 10-point scale, to an average of 2.9 at three months post implant (in the 32 low back pain patients who have reached the three-month follow up);
• And early results indicate improvements in function, including walking and sleeping, in addition to reductions in opioid use and disability.

“The primary objective of SCS is pain relief,” said Salim Hayek, M.D., Ph.D., chief of the Division of Pain Medicine at University Hospitals of Cleveland in Ohio. “These initial results indicate that the Precision Spectra system is effectively reducing pain in these real-world patients at three months post implant.”

More than 100 million Americans suffer from chronic pain. Living in constant pain for an extended period of time can have a devastating impact on quality of life for many patients. Without pain relief, or the hope for relief, many patients lose the ability to sleep, work, and function normally. Spinal cord stimulators deliver electrical pulses from an implantable pulse generator to leads with stimulating contacts. These contacts provide pain relief by masking pain signals traveling to the brain.

“Boston Scientific is committed to advancing science to improve pain relief,” said Maulik Nanavaty, president of the Neuromodulation division at Boston Scientific. “These data are very promising and we look forward to the results of our ongoing clinical programs to demonstrate the long term benefits of the Precision Spectra SCS system.”

These results are part of a clinical program that has been established to further characterize the benefits of the Precision Spectra System in providing pain relief. Other initiatives include RELIEF, a global registry for long term assessment of neuromodulation therapy for pain, and OPTIONS, a prospective, multi-center study of the Precision Spectra system.

Boston Scientific Neuromodulation focuses on implantable pain management technology.