Neuromodulation: High impact healthcare blighted by limited access

Neuromodulation is the collective term used to describe the effects of medical devices that interface with the nervous system for medical gain. Neuromodulatory effects are the functional changes in neural networks that occur when such devices are applied to the nervous system.

The types of therapies are Spinal Cord Stimulation, Sacral nerve stimulation, occipital nerve stimulation, multifidus nerve stimulation, vagus nerve stimulation, deep brain stimulation continuous intrathecal drug delivery (eg baclofen or ziconotide).

Non-invasive neuromodulation includes TENS, transcutaneous peripheral nerve stimulation, transcranial direct current stimulation, transcranial magnetic stimulation.

Health policy recommends the use of many of these therapies but the reality is that the implementation of health policy falls short with many parts of the UK without an adequate service to provide for its population.

In this session, Dr Simon Thomson is going to highlight some therapies, show you what they can do for individuals. He will present larger population data demonstrating the impact of spinal cord stimulation on those that can access it with a greater improvement in health quality than achieved with common pain-relieving procedures like hip, knee replacement and spine surgery. He will explain how himself and colleagues try to re-direct the health care “supertanker” so that HCP and patient awareness is raised with transparent selection criteria and simplified access