FDA approves St. Jude Medical's MultiSteering Technology software for optimizing neurostimulation therapy

St. Jude Medical, Inc. (NYSE:STJ) today announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of its next-generation MultiSteering Technology software for Rapid Programmer™, a programming platform used to optimize neurostimulation therapy for chronic pain patients. Introduced at the North American Neuromodulation Society annual meeting, this new software is designed to help healthcare professionals thoroughly and efficiently program devices for patients with complex pain patterns, eliminating unnecessary, inefficient steps.

MultiSteering Technology helps the programmer customize neurostimulation therapy for managing chronic pain of the trunk and limbs and pain from back surgeries that have failed. Spinal cord stimulators (also known as neurostimulators) deliver mild electrical pulses to leads placed in the epidural space near the spine to interrupt the transmission of pain signals to the brain.

“This latest software advancement provides clinicians with a tool that allows them to customize each patient’s therapy faster and more efficiently than conventional programming,” said Chris Chavez, president of the St. Jude Medical Neuromodulation Division. “The introduction of MultiSteering Technology also expands our programming capabilities to help improve patient outcomes for even the most challenging of cases.”

MultiSteering Technology software:

• Allows more than 10 times the number of electrode configurations to be evaluated in the same amount of time as conventional programming
• Efficiently captures multiple painful areas by enabling the clinician to evaluate stimulation patterns in real time
• Provides control of multiple stimulation fields for optimal pain coverage

Chronic pain is a largely under-treated and misunderstood disease that affects millions of patients worldwide. According to the American Pain Foundation, chronic pain affects more than 76.5 million people in the U.S., while the National Institutes of Health estimates that chronic pain costs the U.S. economy $100 billion a year in lost work time and medical expenses.

More than 60,000 patients in 35 countries have been implanted with St. Jude Medical neurostimulation systems. Patients can obtain more information about neurostimulation therapy at www.PowerOverYourPain.com.