Newswise — Jan. 21, 2015 – The International Neuromodulation Society 12th World Congress will feature traditional and cutting-edge ways to address chronic disease through interfacing with the body’s nervous system.

The congress is expected to draw 1,500 scientists, clinicians and engineers to the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal June 6-11, 2015.

The meeting theme, “‘Neuromodulation: Medicine Evolving Through Technology,’ emphasizes our field’s transformative force on the treatment of disease states – how it is approached now and how it will be in the not-too-distant future,” said INS Congress Chair and President-Elect Timothy Deer, MD.

Highlights include:

• Preconferences will feature new innovations and devices under study, research on mechanisms of action in neuromodulation and responder identification, and investment and capital resources in the field • Evidence-based lectures from worldwide experts• Original, prospective, landmark research presentations• Four daily tracks on the full range of pain treatment, brain interventions, disease modification, visceral issues, headache and functional rehabilitation • Updates on initiatives into electroceutical, or bioelectric, methods to interface with the central, peripheral and autonomic nervous system

Neuromodulation has been called the fastest-growing field in medicine today, both in number of procedures performed, patients treated and in the number of established and evolving indications. A rise in neurologic disease with an aging population is one of the drivers of the field’s growth, the other being an increasing need to manage long-term conditions more effectively, coupled with the limited utility of pharmacological management of neurological conditions and intractable disease states.

Neuromodulation therapies use external or minimally invasive devices to help relieve chronic pain or restore function. Common neuromodulation devices, such as spinal cord stimulators to treat neuropathic pain, draw upon medical technology initially developed for both cardiac pacemakers and cochlear implants.

Existing or emerging devices, occasionally referred to as “digital drugs,” are designed to re-normalize nerve activity through targeted application of electrical, magnetic, chemical, or optical stimulation.

These rapidly evolving neurostimulation devices show evidence or promise in addressing unmet need in such chronic conditions as pain, heart disease, epilepsy, movement disorder and stroke rehabilitation. They also provide a neural-interface prosthetic or intervention for deficits in vision, hearing, breathing, mobility, grasp or gait, motor function, mood, memory, and digestion.

Established techniques such as deep brain stimulation to calm motor symptoms of essential tremor or Parkinson’s disease can help limit life-altering impacts of the underlying condition, and lessen reliance on medication. However, not all patients who might benefit from neuromodulation therapies, or their doctors, have become fully aware of these options.

In addition to neurostimulation, intrathecal drug delivery research will be presented, with the best updates on the treatment of pain, spasticity, and evolving indications. This treatment allows the direct delivery of drugs to the nervous system to avoid many common systemic adverse issues. Prospective studies, new drug innovations, and analysis of important registry information will be discussed and debated.

To learn more, see:

http://www.neuromodulation.com/inscongress

About the International Neuromodulation SocietyThe International Neuromodulation Society (INS) is a nonprofit medical society that unites clinicians, scientists and engineers to share scientific knowledge about all aspects of neuromodulation in order to encourage best medical practice. Founded in 1989 and based in San Francisco, CA, the INS presents up-to-date information about the full breadth of neuromodulation therapies through an interactive website at http://www.neuromodulation.com, chapter scientific meetings, the MEDLINE-indexed journal Neuromodulation: Technology at the Neural Interface, and its biennial world congress.