Chronic pain is a major personal and economical burden, affecting approx. 20% of the adult population in Europe. The majority of patients suffers from musculoskeletal pain in the back, shoulders or neck. Further common types of chronic pain include migraine, chronic headaches, as well as cancer pain. The direct and indirect healthcare costs caused by chronic pain disorders are expected to make up 2-3 % of the cross-European GDP (500 billion € in 2020).

A common treatment for chronic pain has been drug therapy, including opioid based medications that are unsuitable for long-term use due to the risk of addiction.

Klaus Welte is CEO of Stockert, a medtech company based in Freiburg, Germany specialized in the design, development and manufacturing of nerve stimulators, radiofrequency generators and disposables for various clinical applications.

Since first entering the pain therapy market with the NEURO N50 nearly 30 years ago, Stockert have developed market-leading solutions for regional anesthesia (Stimuplex HNS12; Distributed by B BRAUN) and cardiac electrophysiology (SmartAblate; Distributed by Johnson and Johnson).

RF denervation is a minimally invasive procedure, which involves stimulation to localize the nerve carrying the pain signals and localized heating using RF-current to disrupt those signals.

The method can be applied to treat various types of pain syndromes, including back pain, shoulders, knee and other types of joint pain. The treatment is available in many clinics, requires only local anesthesia and is often performed in less than 20 minutes, with pain relief commonly lasting weeks or months and often re-enabling patients to continue physiotherapy to address the root-cause of the underlying conditions.

“That’s why we’re once again turning our focus to pain therapy and developing the NX50”, which combines a 4-channel nerve stimulator and RF-generator with the latest safety features, including grounding pad contact quality monitoring, optimized usability and touch screen interface for streamlined operation.