St. Jude Medical Inc. has received Australian regulatory approval to begin selling a deep brain stimulation device for people suffering from Parkinson’s disease.
St. Jude said its Brio device is the smallest, longest-lasting rechargeable deep brain stimulation system on the market. The device is about the size of a man’s wristwatch, weighing 29 grams and featuring a 10-year battery life, according to a statement from St. Jude.
Parkinson’s is a degenerative brain disease caused by damage to nerve cells in the brain. Patients suffer from impaired movement and speech. Deep brain stimulation delivers electrical pulses that block “abnormal” signals from the brain that cause tremors and other symptoms associated with Parkinson’s.
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The Brio system’s battery is typically implanted in a patient’s chest, near the collar bone, a St. Jude spokesman said.
Receiving Australian approval gives St. Jude another market for the device and an opportunity to increase sales in its neuromodulation division. That division posted a bigger fourth-quarter sales increase, 21 percent to $94 million, than any other at St. Jude.
The Brio system was cleared for sales in the European Union last year, according to the statement. It hasn’t received regulatory approval in the U.S. The company spokesman said St. Jude plans to seek Food and Drug Administration approval of the Brio system at some point, but didn’t give a time frame.