Boston Scientific begins anti-migraine device testing

A new study to assess the value of neurostimulation as a method of treating migraine symptoms has begun with a human patient having an electrical device implanted into their neck.

Researchers from the Boston Scientific Corporation have subcutaneously inserted a Prism (precision implantable stimulator for migraine) at the back of the neck, where it will deliver electrical pulses into the occipital nerves.

The treatment is intended to work for migraine sufferers where existing treatments have proven limited or ineffective.

Roger Cady MD, director of Clinvest and the Headache Care Centre in Springfield, Missouri, said: “This randomised, placebo-controlled trial is an important step to providing scientific validation for the use of neurostimulation as a treatment for migraines.”

He added: “If shown effective, this therapy will positively impact the lives of a large group of people with migraine who don’t respond well to conventional pharmacotherapies.”

The UK’s Migraine Action Association estimates that up to 15 per cent of the British population suffer from migraines, of which two-thirds are women. They say sufferers on average experience 13 attacks per year and that migraine symptoms are not limited to headaches – visual disturbances are common with some types of migraine and an abdominal variant is common in children.

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