The 10 greatest medtech advances of the 2010s

10. Neurostimulation for everything

NeuroPace’s RNS System is a closed-loop brain-responsive neurostimulation system designed to prevent epileptic seizures [Image courtesy of NeuroPace]

Medical device companies already had a few devices out in the early 2000s that used pacemaker technology to treat a few brain and nervous system disorders such as Parkinson’s. But the 2010s were the decade when they sought to harness neurostimulation or neuromodulation to treat a whole host of conditions.

Here’s just a sample of how it’s being used:

In 2018, for example, FDA approved the Medtronic Deep Brain Stimulation for Epilepsy. Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) says the system can reduce the frequency of seizures in adults with medically refractory partial-onset epilepsy.
Silcon Valley–based NeuroPace, meanwhile, touts its RNS System as the only closed-loop brain-responsive neurostimulation system designed to prevent epileptic seizures. The company is studying whether the system might also help treat binge eating in certain people.
CVRx (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) scored a success last summer when it secured premarket approval to market its Barostim Neo device for heart failure in the United States.
Nevro (NYSE:NVRO) has developed and commercialized the Senza spinal cord stimulation (SCS) system for chronic pain treatment.
SPR Therapeutics launched its Sprint peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) system in November 2018, with indications for treating both acute and chronic pain.