FDA approves Boston Scientific’s brain stimulation system

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Boston Scientific’s new imaging tool to be used with a deep brain stimulation device. 

The ImageReady MRI system will be combined with the Marlborough medical device firm’s Vercise Gevia Deep Brain Stimulation System to be used to treat symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease by delivering targeted electrical stimulation in the brain to relieve the side effects of the disease. 

Adding an MRI system to the brain stimulation device allows doctors to better customize patient treatment, the company said. 

Approval comes after a clinical study that found patients treated with the system saw a 48% improvement in motor function over two years. 

FDA approval for the brain stimulation device came in January 2019, and the system coupled with the ImageReady device has been available in Europe since 2017.