Center For Spine Surgery in Wilmington, Delaware
Vivistim® System
The Center for Spine Surgery is the only center in Delaware to offer the Vivistim® Paired VNS™ Therapy System for Stroke Recovery.
Before Your Procedure
Vivistim® Paired VNS™
Therapy System for Stroke Recovery
We are happy to announce that we are now offering Vivistim–a breakthrough treatment for stroke survivors to improve their hand and arm function. Vivistim is the first FDA-approved neurostimulation device to pair VNS (vagus nerve stimulation) with your rehabilitation therapy and daily activities. This pairing helps strengthen the brain connections needed to improve hand and arm function. It’s the only system of its kind, and it is proven safe and effective.
How Does It Work?
The Vivistim System is designed to help increase neuroplasticity to help you improve your hand and arm movements. During rehabilitation exercises and at-home activities, Vivistim is activated to gently stimulate the brain via the vagus nerve. This boost to the brain helps strengthen and create new neural pathways, like building a new bridge to bypass the damaged area. When the Vivistim Therapy boosts the brain’s neural activity, it builds lasting connections that continue to work even when Vivistim is not in use.
What is Paired Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS)?
The vagus nerve is the longest nerve in the body and the superhighway of the nervous system. It sends messages between your brain and many parts of the body. Gentle electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve activates the parts of the brain that are important for motor learning. For over 25 years, safe VNS implantation procedures have been performed to treat other nerve-related conditions such as epilepsy.
Process
- Vivistim is implanted a same-day, outpatient procedure. The small medical device (similar to a pacemaker) that can fit in the palm of a hand, is placed under the skin in the upper left chest wall and neck region during a short outpatient procedure.
- A few weeks after the Vivistim device is implanted, when the stroke survivor is cleared for physical activity by the surgeon, they will start Vivistim Therapy with a therapist in a rehabilitation setting. The therapist will use a remote that sends a wireless signal to the implanted device via a laptop computer which delivers a brief, gentle pulse to the vagus nerve while the stroke survivor performs various rehabilitation tasks. This in-clinic rehabilitation therapy typically lasts 6 weeks, a few times per week.
- Vivistim Therapy is also done outside the rehabilitation environment (e.g. at home) and patients are encouraged to start this part of rehabilitation as early as the first day of therapy in the clinic. Patients activate a session on their own with a simple swipe of the Vivistim Magnet.
Accreditation
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Our physicians, anesthesiologists, nurses and supporting staff are experts in their fields and dedicated to providing patients with successful and compassionate care based on the recommendation of your physician.
