Posted by Michael Wonder on 27 Aug 2021
FDA approves first of its kind stroke rehabilitation system
27 August 2021 - The U.S. FDA today approved the MicroTransponder Vivistim Paired VNS System (Vivistim System), a first-of-its-kind, drug-free rehabilitation system intended to treat moderate to severe upper extremity motor deficits associated with chronic ischaemic stroke—a stroke caused by a blockage of blood flow to the brain with long-lasting symptoms—using vagus nerve stimulation.
The Vivistim System is intended to be used, along with post-stroke rehabilitation therapy, in patients who have had ischemic stroke, to electrically stimulate the vagus nerve—a nerve that runs from the brain down to the abdomen—to reduce deficiencies in upper limb and extremity motor function and to improve patients’ ability to move their arms and hands.
