Medtronic has announced that it has launched the first and only implantable FDA-approved neurostimulation system that is full-body MRI safe under specific conditions.
A company press release reported that Medtronic’s neurostimulation systems with SureScan MRI technology and Vectris SureScan MRI percutaneous leads are specially designed with enhancements to reduce or eliminate the hazards produced by the MRI environment. The systems also include a proprietary SureScan feature, which sets the neurostimulator into an appropriate mode for the MRI environment, enabling the radiology departments to easily and conveniently confirm a patient’s implantable system is safe for MRI scanning.
Among the first physicians to implant these new systems are neurosurgeon Ali Rezai, professor and director of the Center for Neuromodulation and Functional Neurosurgery at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbu, USA, and president of both the North American Neuromodulation Society and Congress of Neurological Surgeons; David L Caraway, medical director for St Mary’s Pain Relief Center in Huntington, USA, and a member of the board of directors for the North American Neuromodulation Society and executive vice president, American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians; and Mehul J Desai, director, Spine, Pain medicine and Research at Metro Orthopedics and Sports Therapy (MOST) in Silver Spring, USA.
Rezai said: “The ability to safely perform MRI scans after a spinal cord stimulator implant is an important advance and a major benefit for our patients. In today’s medical practice, MRI examinations are necessary and routinely performed for diagnosis and clinical care. It is very likely that a patient with chronic pain, spinal disease, neurological and orthopaedic disorders will require an MRI scan. However, until now, this was not feasible with SCS implants. I am happy that we will now be able to offer MRI scans for our patients.”
