Implanter's Integrated Information (I3) System: An Aid for Spinal Cord Stimulation Procedures

Area of Science:

• Neurosurgery
• Biomedical Engineering
• Pain Management

Background:

• Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) uses electrical leads to evoke paresthesias for pain relief.
• Accurate paresthesia coverage of painful areas is crucial during SCS lead implantation.
• Patient descriptions of paresthesias are often imprecise and difficult to interpret.

Purpose of the Study:

• To optimize SCS implantation by improving patient paresthesia descriptions.
• To visually integrate lead position, programming parameters, and evoked paresthesias for physicians.
• To develop a user-friendly system for complex SCS data visualization.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a tablet app for patients to create detailed pain drawings and paresthesia mapping.
• Employed screen-sharing technology (Chromecast, Apple TV) to project data to multiple monitors.
• Positioned monitors adjacent to the fluoroscopy screen for real-time physician access.

Main Results:

• A three-monitor system provided a dynamic, integrated view of SCS implantation data.
• The system visualized lead position, programming parameters, and patient-reported paresthesias.
• This created an intuitive 'dashboard' for the implanting physician.

Conclusions:

• Introduced the Implanter's Integrated Information (I3) system for SCS procedures.
• The I3 system offers a simple, cost-effective solution for data integration and visualization.
• This approach enhances the precision and success rate of SCS lead implantation.