St. Jude Medical Inc. (NYSE:STJ) landed approval for its Eon Mini spinal cord stimulation system from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
The St. Paul, Minn.-based medical device maker touts the implantable device as the world’s smallest and longest-lasting rechargeable neurostimulation system for chronic pain management.
The device’s battery should last 10 years, according to St. Jude, maintaining “a reasonable recharge interval" for at least 10 years, meaning fewer battery replacement surgeries.
The Eon Mini manages chronic pain in the trunk or limbs and pain from failed back surgery by delivering mild electrical shocks to the spinal cord to interrupt or mask the transmission of pain signals to the brain, according to St. Jude.
In January, the company’s Genesis spinal cord stimulator, which also uses electrical pulses to block pain signals, also gained Japanese approval.
Doctors in 40 countries have implanted St. Jude’s neurostimulation systems in more than 75,000 patients, according to the company.
