Physicians at the Emory University Continence Center are touting the InterStim. Niall Galloway, medical director at the Emory center, says many people do not respond well to medication, but they might respond to this stopwatch-sized neurostimulator surgically placed under the skin of the abdomen.
The Interstim is a device that sends mild electrical impulses to the sacral nerves in the lower back controlling the bladder function. It generates mild impulses that are carried through a thin implant to the sacral nerves.
The InterStim was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in April and patients in a clinical trial involving 23 medical centers say they had significant reductions in symptoms of urinary urge incontinence, urgency-frequency and urinary retention. About 13 million Americans suffer from urinary control problems. About 85 percent of them are women ages 30 to 59.
