Cleveland startup SPR Therapeutics is developing a minimally invasive medical device that treats the phantom pain associated with amputation – without the standard use of narcotics.
It just received a $1.45 million SBIR grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop an implantable device that stimulates the peripheral nervous system, and addresses both phantom and residual pain that follows amputation. SPR has also received a $2.8 million research grant from the Department of Defense to fund ongoing safety trials.
The Amputee Coalition says there are nearly 2 million folks in the U.S. that have lost limbs – and post-amputation pain occurs in 85 percent of those with major limb amputation. SPR says that percutaneous stimulation of these peripheral nerves helps reduce pain by 76 percent.
The new grant funding will go toward developing SPR’s second-gen implantable pulse generator for patients that need longterm stimulation to manage chronic post-amputation pain. The stimulating electrode is meant to be placed inside the residual limb of the amputee.
