Medtronic Introduces the World's First Neurostimulation System For Chronic Pain That Functions in MRI Environment

Thanks to Medtronic, people who have been implanted with a spinal cord stimulation system can now undergo an MRI without worry.

The Minnesota medical device maker announced Tuesday that the first implants of RestoreSensor SureScan MRI neurostimulation systems introduces the world’s first and only neurostimulation system capable of withstanding a full-body MRI under certain conditions.

The spinal cord stimulation system is aimed at patients suffering from chronic and/or limb pain.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging has become a routine method of seeing the health of internal organs and vessels, and is often used in diagnosis. But an MR environment of strong magnetic fields and radiofrequency pulses can affect devices like pacemakers and spinal cord stimulators.

Medtronic’s RestoreSensor SureScan MRI neurostimulation system's percutaneous leads are specially designed to reduce or eliminate the hazards produced by the MR environment.

The systems also include a feature, which sets the neurostimulator into an appropriate mode for the MRI environment. That in turn helps radiologists to confirm that a patient's implantable system is safe for scanning.

"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 orthopedic 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."