What is StimWave?
StimWave Technologies is a medical device company that manufactures, designs, develops, sells, and markets neurostimulator devices or products that provide long-lasting pain relief in patients suffering from chronic pain. Stimwave offers 2 types of neurostimulator products: The Freedom Peripheral Nerve Stimulator (PNS) System and the Freedom Spinal Cord Stimulator (SCS) System. Both the Freedom PNS and SCS Systems treat pain by conveying electrical impulses to specific nerve sites where the pain is located and then prevents those pain signals from reaching the brain. The PNS System relieves chronic intractable pain by targeting specific nerves throughout the body, whereas the SCS System is utilized to relieve chronic intractable pain usually associated with your legs and back.
How Do StimWave Devices Work?
StimWave’s neurostimulator devices are minimally invasive, implanted technologies that use wireless energy transfer with high frequency electromagnetic coupling (HF-EMC) from the Wearable Antenna Assembly (WAA) to the implanted electrode array and receiver. Each electrode array consists of 4 or 8 contacts (1.3 mm in diameter with 4 mm spacing) with an embedded MicroStim TM Asic chip, circuitry, and a receiver. The WAA is comprised of a flexible, fabric antenna and rechargeable transmitter worn only as needed. StimWave Freedom Stimulators provide you with true “freedom” from cables, batteries, and implanted generators. The external compact device utilizes simple buttons to change therapy levels and can be recharged effortlessly using a micro-USB. A single charge may last up to 24 hours depending upon your therapy settings, and it only takes about 4 hours to recharge the device, even when the battery is completely drained.
Procedure for StimWave Placement
StimWave’s Freedom device is a compact micro-stimulator with a flexible circuit board measuring only 0.069 inches and is fitted through a standard gauge needle in a minimally invasive surgical approach. The procedure is performed on an outpatient basis under local anesthesia or light sedation. During the procedure, a neurostimulator with electrodes and a receiver to use wireless radiofrequency power is implanted percutaneously close to a peripheral nerve in your body. The device relieves pain by sending electrical stimulation to specific nerve locations where the pain is present and then blocks those pain signals.
Prior to implanting the device permanently, there is usually a trial period to determine if the therapy is effective in treating your chronic pain.
Benefits of StimWave Devices
Some of the benefits of StimWave’s Freedom Systems, the SCS and PNS products, include:
- Minimally-invasive technology
- Outpatient procedure
- Decreased risk of complications
- Non-drug therapy option
- Full body, targeted pain relief
- No battery implanted inside your body
- Systems that are full-body
- 5T and 3T MRI Conditional
- External power transmitter eliminates sitting when charging
- FDA cleared systems for chronic intractable pain
Summary
StimWave neurostimulator uses electrical signals to disrupt or interrupt pain signals to the brain. A stimulator is placed near the painful nerve to deliver electrical impulses. The frequency and intensity of the electrical impulses are able to ameliorate your pain and get you back to your normal life. It is an excellent option for full body chronic pain management in patients who are deemed poor surgical candidates, who are elderly, who have comorbidities with risk for open surgery, who have had prior surgery, who do not wish to undergo surgery, and who have failed other modes of treatment such as medications. StimWave can significantly reduce several types of pain, such as shoulder pain, neck pain, back pain, wrist pain, knee pain, hip pain, and foot pain, as well as allow for aggressive physical therapy in order to help restore joint motion and function.