Electrical Stimulators Show Great Promise, Especially For Spinal Fusions

Since the times of Queen Elizabeth I in the 1600s, even royal physicians have touted electricity for its healing properties. Benjamin Franklin, famous for his kite flying experiment of 1752 to prove that static charge and lightning were the same phenomenon, was actually interested in electricity for its medicinal properties. He experimented with electric treatments for people recovering from strokes to see if it improved their health.

By the late 1800s, many electric "cures" were being patented, from prostrate warmers to electromagnetic bath salts. Now, electricity is being used to speed up healing and bony fusion.

Spinal Fusion Surgery On The Rise
Spinal fusion is the most rapidly growing orthopedic surgical procedure in the United States. Between 1996 and 2001, the number of operations has increased 75 percent, and now more than 300,000 procedures are performed each year. With a mean hospital charge of $34,000, not including professional fees, spinal fusion is a $2 billion market with an annual growth rate of 18-20 percent.

But how do medical device manufacturers capitalize on this growing market? Although there are numerous competitors in the spinal implant and device area, there is plenty of opportunity to develop devices that aid in healing. The most recent of these are electrical stimulators that actually shorten bone fusion time and reduce complications while also making the fusion more solid. For the millions of people with diabetes or other conditions that make healing difficult, this is an incredible breakthrough.

Before electrical stimulation, spinal fusion took at least four months to occur. Unlike a fracture, no stem cells are released from the bone marrow to form a callus around a spinal surgical site. Electrical stimulation mimics the body’s natural process of fracture repair, signaling it that a fracture has occurred and activating the embedded bone growth factors to work with the body in creating new bone.

Electrical Stimulators Have Other Applications
According to market studies, these new, anatomically specific units are designed to improve patient comfort and ease-of-use, creating a market estimated at $418.7 million in 2005, growing to $690.1 million by 2012. And the market for electrical stimulators is poised to venture into numerous other surgical and fracture healing fields.

Electrical stimulators work in conjunction with new recombinant growth factor products, and the stimulators work by encouraging the release of growth factors, so the potential applications are much farther reaching than just spinal fusion. Recently, pSivida Limited received a patent for stimulating orthopedic tissue to improve bone growth around hip and knee implants.

In the femur, a common site for non-union fractures and thus extensive disability, electrical stimulation is providing an important new tool. Unlike casting, which relies on immobilizing a region, electrical stimulation works in conjunction with some movement of the fracture or fusion site. This then stimulates the body's natural fracture healing properties to focus on healing a specific region. Some surgeons are considering using electrical stimulators within casts to prevent bone and cartilage deterioration in immobilized patients. Dentistry also has begun investigating the use of electrical stimulation to improve bone healing around dental implants.

Stimulators Can Reduce Risk Factors
With an aging population in the United States, the advent of electrical stimulation to aid healing in patients after spinal fusion and other surgical procedures is truly revolutionary. Often, high-risk patients are denied unnecessary surgeries due to the surgeon's concerns about healing. But electrical stimulation can alleviate these risk factors and provide access to these procedures to much larger populations. As a result, this market has tremendous growth potential, as the devices are noninvasive, carry low risk, and can be developed using widely accessible existing technology.