Dr Anitescu pioneers the dual implant of the smallest pulse generator in the world to treat chronic pain in multiple sites
On February 17, Dr. Magdalena Anitescu and her fellows, Dr. Wenyu Pan and Dr. Tom Xiao, became the first team to implant the smallest pulse generator* to treat dual chronic pain.
The effects of electricity on the spinal neurons for treating pain, also called neuromodulation, have been known for 50 years. However, existing technology has been limited by the size of the implantable pulse generator, which was needed to ensure the powerful battery could last 5-10 years once inserted in the body. This was particularly acute for patient cases involving two conditions, neck and back pain, where two pulse generators were required to treat the pain.
Larger batteries can result in imperfect outcomes as many patients have difficulty tolerating the devices, which may lead to a 10-15% failure of the procedure. This failure does not stem from the neuromodulation treatment being non-effective, but rather the size of the pulse generator potentially causing pain for the patient at the implant site that cannot be tolerated. Therefore, quests for miniaturization and advancement of technology have been driving the science of neuromodulation since the first spinal cord stimulator implant in 1967.
With limited release on February 15 to a handful of physicians across the U.S., the Abbott Eterna™ device that Dr. Anitescu and her team implanted just two days later is a third of the size of a credit card. This miniaturization allowed Dr. Anitescu to implant the devices in a location on a patient about half the size of previous techniques with the goal of treating the debilitating neck and back pain the person experienced for more than five years. This vastly reduces the probability of the patient not being able to tolerate the device. Thus, the UChicago Medicine pain team, led by Dr. Anitescu, became first in the world to treat concomitant pain conditions using a much smaller intervention area in the body of the patient.
This pioneering work suggests that it is possible to use neuromodulation to treat multiple conditions concomitantly, using less invasive techniques and with minimal patient discomfort. True forefront for UChicago Pain.
*Abbott. Eterna SCS IPG Size Comparison Memo (MAT-2210151); 2022; Smallest size determined by volume in cubic centimeters.