Spinal Cord Implants
Epidural dorsal column spinal cord implants have a wide range of uses in pain syndromes especially in regional pain. The implantation procedures are also technically not difficult and can be undertaken safely by most neurosurgeons. The only limiting factor in their widespread use all over the world is the cost. Currently only two neurosurgical electronic device companies have patents and are making these implants. I wonder if there's a way to involve more companies to bring out their own cheaper devices to make them affordable for the developing countries and more widely accessible.
Tags: column, cord, dorsal, implants, spinal, stimulation
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Abdulrahman J Sabbagh on -
That is an excellent question Nasir... !
The idea is simple, the mechanics and physics are even simpler... yet the prices are astronomical...
Just like most other consumables and devices in medicine …. Most are business oriented... and only the rich, the fortunate and the lucky well end up getting... and the needy ...NOT!
and the saga continues ... -
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Permalink Reply by Nasir Raza Awan on -
Do you have any idea about the copyright position of such a suggestion? I mean if there are already two companies in the market, there must be a way around the copyright limitations.
Let me clarify one thing here. I'm not saying that we encourage a company to "copy" the design of another company and make an implant of its own or to infringe the copyright law in any other way. What I'm suggesting is that now that the principle of the way these machines work is known, a company may design its own implant taylored to suit the developing countries in cost etc. Can that be done? What is the copyright position of *that* kind of a proposal? -
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