New spinal cord stimulator offers relief for patients with chronic pain

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Over 50 million American adults suffer from chronic pain. WVU Medicine surgeons implanted the Health System’s first Inceptiv™ spinal cord stimulator (SCS), an FDA-approved medical device that offers personalized treatment for chronic pain.  

Traditional fixed-output SCS devices deliver constant, mild electrical impulses that disrupt pain signals before they reach the brain. This means that certain movements, such as laughing, bending, or sneezing, may result in brief moments of uncomfortable overstimulation. This may lead patients to turn down their device settings to levels that are below what is therapeutically effective.

The Inceptiv device offers a closed-loop feature that senses biological signals along the spinal cord and automatically adjusts stimulation in real time, keeping therapy in harmony with the motions of daily life. The device senses the body’s response to stimulation 50 times per second and instantly adjusts stimulation to maintain prescribed settings as determined by the physician. The implant is also non-magnetic and can safely remain in place during imaging studies, such as MRI.

“This was a huge team effort which included the device manufacturer, the clinic, and WVU Medicine Allied Health Solutions, which quickly acquired the technology for WVU Medicine,” Richard Vaglienti, M.D., WVU Medicine Center for Integrative Pain Management Chronic Pain Medicine director, said. “This technology continues to put WVU Medicine in the vanguard technologically and allows us to provide the newest and best therapies to the people of West Virginia.”

To learn more about how the physicians at WVU Medicine can help with chronic pain, visit WVUMedicine.org/Pain or call 855-WVU-CARE.