Medtronic’s myPTM Smartphone Controller for SynchroMed II Pain Drug Pump Approved by FDA

Medtronic landed an FDA approval for its myPTM smartphone-powered controller for the SynchroMed II drug delivery system. The new product allows pain patients with the implanted SynchroMed II device to deliver a bolus of the medication into their bodies, precisely when needed. The patient’s physician can set limits on how much of the drug can be administered in a given amount of time, in addition to daily automatic therapy dosing. The SynchroMed II device is implanted under the skin and designed to deliver drugs into the intrathecal space.

The new myPTM is really just an app installed on a Samsung J3 smartphone. The smartphone wirelessly interfaces with the SynchroMed II pump and the app can be used to trigger pre-set dose bolusing.

All the drug delivery events are saved and can be tracked within the app, in addition to being seen by the patient’s physician. If the daily limit of the drug is reached, the patient will not be able to dose again until the following day.



“We are striving to simplify targeted drug delivery therapy to make it more accessible,” said Charlie Covert, vice president and general manager of the Targeted Drug Delivery business, part of the Restorative Therapies Group at Medtronic. “The Control Workflow and Clinician Programmer provide physicians with tools to effectively administer the therapy, and the myPTM provides customized pain relief options for patients. As the opioid crisis continues, we are inspired by the Medtronic Mission to continue to innovate and expand access to care for patients who may benefit from our therapies, which have the potential to eliminate the need for oral opioids.”

Medtronic believes its technology may help address the opioid dependence that many patients have been falling into lately.  In a recent study of patients moving from systemic opiods to a targeted drug delivery system showed that 84 percent of patients were able to get off of systemic opiods completely.