DBS Clinician Programmer addresses day-to-day management challenges

This modern, familiar tool will enhance the clinical programming experience, streamline workflows and provide actionable information to support neurologists and neurosurgeons in their treatment of patients that use the market leading, Medtronic Activa DBS system as therapy for neurological diseases such as Parkinson's disease and Dystonia.

Globally, approximately 125,000 Medtronic Activadevices are implanted, and this programmer will have an immediate impact to the programming interactions that are a critical part of post-implant care for thousands of patients.

The programmer will also enable the upgrade of Activa rechargeable implantable neurostimulators service life to 15 years, giving patients an additional 6 years until their next device replacement.

"After using the Medtronic Clinician Programmer for the first time, I am impressed with the thoughtfulness put into the user interface," said Dr. Mohammad Maarouf, associate professor, head of the Department of Stereotaxy and Functional Neurosurgery, Cologne Merheim Medical Center, University of Witten/Herdecke, Germany.

"Its intuitive, visual interface and task-based workflow makes daily use easier, saving me time to focus on what's most important-my patients."

The Medtronic DBS Clinician Programmer is also approved for use with Medtronic Activa DBS systems that treat medically refractory epilepsy, a therapy that will be launched later this year in the U.S.

"This marks a new era of innovation from the only partner with a 25-year DBS legacy, and paves the way to our vision of the future of DBS with a fully integrated system from planning to programming," said Mike Daly, vice president and general manager of the Brain Modulation business, which is part of the Restorative Therapies Group at Medtronic.

"Additionally, this launch serves as evidence of our dedication to the Medtronic Mission and our DBS patients, with the extension of the device longevity of the ActivaRC rechargeable neurostimulator. Now patients can benefit from 6 extra years of therapy between surgeries, giving them even more time to do the things they love."

The European launch of the Medtronic DBS Clinician Programmer is underway, with the U.S. launch expected to take place before the end of July 2018.