Clinical Research Team Published in Journal of Pain Research
A New Direction for Closed-Loop Spinal Cord Stimulation
The Twin Cities Pain Clinic Research Team has once again had their work published in a national medical journal. The research study, titled A New Direction for Closed-Loop Spinal Cord Stimulation: Combining Contemporary Therapy Paradigms with Evoked Compound Action Potential Sensing, was published in Journal of Pain Research on December 29, 2021. Our own Andrew Will, MD and Karen Trutnau, CNP were among the primary contributors on this study.
The purpose of this study was to develop enhanced programming settings for spinal cord stimulation (SCS) therapy. Spinal cord stimulation treats chronic pain by using electricity. The electricity “stimulates” the nerves, which prevents them from effectively sending pain signals to the brain.
The pulses are created in a small battery generator and then carried via wires (called leads) with electrodes at the ends. The electrodes are placed along the spine.
However, as the patient performs everyday activities and posture changes, the movement creates small changes in the distance between the electrode and the nerve(s). Since traditional SCS therapy uses fixed stimulation settings, these changes in distance can impact the effectiveness of pain relief.
This recently published research study aims to determine the effectiveness of newly developed SCS programming in a “closed loop system” that can automatically adjust their parameters in response to electrode distance variation. The goal of this system is to provide optimal consistent pain relief for patients.
Congratulations to the experts on our Clinical Research Team for this well-deserved recognition. We are grateful for your efforts to advance the frontiers of pain care!
