Spinal cord stimulators are designed to address back pain and can be used as part of a patient's treatment plan.
Here are five things to know about them:
1. The spinal cord stimulator market is expected to grow to $4.8 billion by 2032, according to Allied Market Research.
2. Some spinal cord stimulators are leveraging artificial intelligence. Nevro earned FDA approval and began a limited market release of its HFX iQ spinal cord stimulator with HFX AdaptivAI.
3. Some spinal cord injury patients saw significant improvement in hand and arm function after using Onward Medical's Arc-EX spinal cord stimulator. Results of a clinical trial for the Arc-EX therapy reached all primary safety and effectiveness endpoints, and the device showed "significant improvements in upper limb strength, function, and sensation" in patients with chronic tetraplegia due to cervical SCI.
4. In 2023, a letter from the American Society of Neuroradiology that was co-signed by multiple spine groups called out Cigna over its policies related to closed-loop spinal cord stimulation therapy. The Nov. 30 letter expressed "profound objection" to Cigna's policy calling the therapy "experimental, investigational, and/or unproven" and said the classification neglects the research and evidence behind it.
5. In 2024, several devicemakers earned FDA nods for spinal cord stimulators including Xstim, Abbott and Medtronic.