Neurostimulation startup SPR Therapeutics has reached an important milestone, implanting its post-stroke shoulder-pain device in a patient for the first time.
A 76-year-old man suffering from shoulder pain is now pain-free after being implanted with the device at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The patient also reported a better quality of life, with improvements in sleep, mood and relationships with other, according to a statement from Cleveland-area SPR.
SPR’s pain-relief system is aimed at reducing shoulder pain in patients who’ve suffered strokes. The technology works via an external generator that electrically stimulates a peripheral nerve to exercise a muscle and treat a patient’s pain.
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SPR has developed a two-stage process for pain relief: First, a patient is treated with the company’s short-term device, the Smartpatch. Next, the patient is implanted with the company’s MicroPulse long-term MicroPulse device.
SPR is also studying its system in patients suffering shoulder pain not related to stroke.
The company recently filed a regulatory document indicating it had raised $1 million of an anticipated $2 million series A round of investment.
CEO Maria Bennett wasn’t available for comment.