Boston Scientific secures FDA nod for image-guided software

Boston Scientific today announced it received FDA approval for its Vercise Neural Navigator with StimView XT.

The Marlborough, Massachusetts-based company designed its latest image-guided programming software in collaboration with Brainlab AG. It enables clinicians in real-time to visualize lead placement and stimulation modeling of the brain anatomy of patients with Parkinson’s disease or essential tremor.

StimView XT, used in combination with the Vercise Genus deep brain stimulation (DBS) portfolio, is an integrated visualization software for DBS programming. It enables patient-specific 3D visualization of the anatomy for clinicians to better personalize therapy for individual patient needs.

“It’s exciting that clinicians will now have access to more sophisticated image-guided programming tools supporting personalized DBS therapy,” said Dr Jill Ostrem, medical director at the University of California San Francisco’s Movement Disorders and Neuromodulation Center. “This advancement with StimView XT may also save time for the clinician as it could help avoid the trial and error in finding the precise location. Prolonged periods of time in adjusting stimulation settings can be stressful and tiring for patients.”

A recent study of the Boston Scientific visualization system showed that clinicians were able to adjust patient stimulation in an average of 20 minutes and lowered programming time by 56%.

“Every person’s experience living with Parkinson’s disease or essential tremor is unique, and their treatment should be as unique,” Maulik Nanavaty, senior VP of neuromodulation at Boston Scientific, said in a news release. “Our technologies enable clinicians to precisely see, shape, and steer DBS therapy to meet their patients’ individual needs. This latest advancement is a testament to how we’ll continue to deliver on meaningful innovations that support doctors.” MassDevice