Medical device major Boston Scientific Corporation BSX recently commercially launched its Vercise Primary Cell (PC) Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) System in the European markets following the receipt of CE Mark for the same. With this approval, the company can now serve a huge section of patients, who suffer from neurological disorders like Parkinson's disease, dystonia and essential tremor.
Neurological disorders refer to a wide spectrum of diseases that affect one’s central and peripheral nervous system ranging from epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease to Parkinson's disease, brain tumors, dystonia and several others. Currently, almost 1 billion people suffer from such neurological disorders globally (according to a latest WHO report).
DBS is an advanced form of brain surgery that was originally developed to treat Parkinson's disease and now is also executed to treat dystonia, essential tremor and more recently, obsessive-compulsive disorder. Notably, Boston Scientific’s Vercise PC System is the world’s first customized DBS therapy device that offers precise neural targeting to patients suffering from Parkinson's disease, primary and secondary dystonia, and essential tremor.
The Vercise DBS technology incorporates two unique features: the longest rechargeable battery life (lasts for 25 years) available for DBS therapy and the smallest stimulator footprint (like a pacemaker). Moreover, the stimulator of this system incorporates the unique Vercise DBS Directional Lead, which is the first commercially available eight-contact segmented lead that facilitates easy travel of electrical impulses to specific regions of the brain.
Further, the Vercise system is the first and only DBS solution that offers multiple independent current control (MICC) technology, to finely control the size and shape of the stimulation field, according to individual patient’s need.
Now, a patient implanted with a DBS system traditionally requires to change the battery of the device once in every 5 years. Since the Vercise platform offers the longest battery life, it will save on cost as well as the risk of a patient undergoing a second DBS surgery.
According to a recently published report by Transparency Market Research, with increased incidence of neurological disorders – particularly Parkinson's disease – the global DBS devices market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.9% from 2014 to $3.21 billion in 2020. We believe the recent CE Mark for its Vercise platform will help Boston Scientific capture a larger share of this expanding market potential, going forward.