Boston Scientific's Full-Body MRI SCS System Gets FDA Nod

Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) recently launched its Precision Montage MRI Spinal Cord Stimulator (SCS) System in the U.S., subsequent to the device’s receipt of FDA approval. The company will also showcase this system at the 8th World Congress of the World Institute of Pain, being held in New York City.

Notably, SCS is a small surgical device which delivers small electrical impulses to a patient’s spinal cord; relieving the patient from long term chronic pain.

Chronic pain is a common medical condition, which in case of adversities might hamper the quality of a patient’s daily life. Currently, almost 100 million U.S. citizens suffer from this condition.

As a therapeutic option, majority of patients have been found to have adopted Multiwave Technology for optimizing their pain relief. Evidently, from a study involving 800 patients, 72% were found to have undergone Multiwave Technology treatment.

Interestingly, Boston Scientific’s Precision Montage MRI SCS allows patients to undergo a full-body 1.5 Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) MRI scan while also delivering multiple waveforms. This marks a milestone achievement for this medical device major, making Precision Montage MRI SCS the first to allow a full body MRI among the company’s other SCS systems.

This new SCS system also expands the suite of Boston Scientific’s neuromodulation portfolio of products that leverage the Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) 3D algorithm, which is a unique programming software facilitating simple point-and-click pain targeting the treatment of chronic pain.

Per management, Lumina clinical study results (in Jan 2015) exhibited patients demonstrating 70% greater low-back pain relief with Boston Scientific’s SCS system in the Illumina 3D family, at 24-months. No doubt this latest addition to the company’s ever expanding suit of neuromodulation devices will expand its customer base, taking into consideration this clinical study outcome.

The earlier version of the SCS system offered by Boston Scientific – Precision Spectra platform – currently dominates the market, being the most flexible SCS system.

With the global neuromodulation devices market expected to grow at a double digit CAGR to reach $9.3 billion by 2021, we expect the Precision Montage SCS launch to substantially boost Boston Scientific’s profit margins in the days ahead.

The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Other favorably ranked medical stocks are SurModics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SRDX) , Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) and LeMaitre Vascular, Inc. (NASDAQ:LMAT) . While SurModics and Baxter sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), LeMaitre carries a Zacks Rank #2.