St. Jude Medical Gets FDA Green Light for Infinity Deep Brain Stimulation System for Parkinson’s, Essential Tremor

St. Jude Medical is launching in the U.S. its Infinity deep brain stimulation (DBS) system for patients with Parkinson’s disease or essential tremor, following FDA approval. The implant comes witha  DBS directional lead, the first such lead to receive FDA approval. The lead has segmented contacts, each individually controlled to allow for flexibility in programming the device to achieve optimal results for different patients while minimizing unwanted side effects common to DBS.

The system is programmed using an Apple iPad mini and patients can connect to the implant with a paired iPod touch to control the device’s output.

This is big news for St. Jude that’s trying to take a bite out of Medtronic’s market lead in deep brain stimulation, and for patients’ sake we’re glad it’s getting crowded in this space.