Dr. Kieran Slevin Examines Emerging Technologies and their Role in Pain Management

Chronic pain is among America’s most common and debilitating health complaints. It now affects around one-fifth of the adult population and is the single largest cause of disability in this demographic. Chronic pain is an area of particular expertise for board-certified pain medicine physician Dr. Kieran Slevin.

Dr. Slevin reports that an ever-growing number of new technologies are now emerging focused on tackling the current chronic pain epidemic in America. Effective, technology-led therapies are evolving faster than ever, designed to aid all-important future pain management strategies.

The following is a closer look at some of the most significant emerging technologies in this space, courtesy of the board-certified pain medicine physician.

Cutting-Edge Peripheral and Spinal Stimulators

Peripheral and spinal stimulators help physicians like Dr. Slevin treat chronic and complex pain syndromes by delivering carefully calculated electrical impulses. These carefully calculated impulses are tailored toward reversing pain-causing pathologic neural processes. The latest stimulators utilize increasingly cutting-edge technologies to yield better-than-ever results.

This innovation comes as specialists, aided by technological breakthroughs, develop an ever-increasing understanding of the main pain-causing electrical signals generated by patients’ nervous systems. These pain-causing electrical signals are one of the primary underlying causes of chronic pain, board-certified expert Dr. Slevin reports.

Cutting-edge device optimization and miniaturization are massively extending the utility of peripheral and spinal stimulators. Moreover, continued development of such devices—and further in-depth studies surrounding the effects of therapeutic electrical stimulation—are driving other, similarly cutting-edge neuromodulation-focused approaches to pain management.

Latest Advancements in Biotechnology

Cutting-edge innovations like the latest peripheral and spinal stimulators are only half the equation surrounding emerging technologies and their role in pain management. Many such emerging technologies have already proved highly effective. However, countless more remain as yet still investigational.

Here, the latest advancements in biotechnology are proving increasingly fruitful within the pain management technology space. Investment in biotechnology focused on chronic pain management is at an all-time high as chronic pain remains among America’s leading causes of disability. High-level investment is currently driving considerable growth in pain medicine therapeutics.

According to Dr. Kieran Slevin, this is a monumental and hopeful sign for the immediate future of various pain medicine-focused breakthrough technologies. It also represents fantastic news for patients still seeking relief from chronic pain as yet not helped by current practices or technologies.

Rapidly Evolving Virtual Telehealth Support

Telehealth or telemedicine involves distributing healthcare services via virtual and other electronic or telecommunication-led technologies. Telehealth is by no means a new method of delivering healthcare services. However, the field is now evolving rapidly and like never before. Furthermore, the field increasingly focuses on addressing chronic pain.

Breakthroughs are coming thick and fast, thanks in no small part to the latest advancements in biotechnology. Such advancements are also rooted in much of the same technology driving cutting-edge peripheral and spinal stimulators, therapeutic electrical stimulation methods, and other similarly vital neuromodulation-forward approaches to care.

Much of this rapid evolution results from the current stratospheric rise of artificial intelligence and associated technologies involving virtual reality and machine learning. Led by massive healthcare industry investment and research, telehealth and telemedicine now encompass a broader range of at-distance services than ever.

These services range from simple telephone consultations to ultrasound imaging and other services utilizing master-slave surgical systems. Pain medicine physicians like Dr. Slevin hope that continued investment and research will see rapidly evolving virtual telehealth support become a more powerful tool in managing the most common and debilitating forms of chronic pain.

Other Emerging Medical Technologies to Watch

Alongside cutting-edge peripheral and spinal stimulators, the latest advancements in biotechnology, and rapidly evolving virtual telehealth support, Pennsylvania-based pain medicine physician Dr. Kieran Slevin has also earmarked an additional handful of emerging technologies to watch in the coming months and years.

These include AI pain prediction, technology-led trauma-informed approaches, and virtual reality therapy. Altogether, it’s a growing list of emerging technologies with potential roles in pain management that includes the following:

• AI pain prediction and personalized treatment
• Breakthrough regenerative and genetic medicine
• Technology-led trauma-informed approaches
• Virtual reality-enabled therapy
• Wearable devices and biofeedback

It’s hoped that advances here and elsewhere in pain physiology research and management technology will support each other in the immediate future. Should that prove the case, current and anticipated progress in pain medicine technologies looks set to drive optimized treatment of various pain types focused on providing personalized care across the board.

Pain Management Expert Dr. Kieran Slevin

Dr. Kieran Slevin is an Irish-born, Pennsylvania-based physician and interventional spine specialist. Dr. Slevin is board-certified in anesthesiology and pain medicine. He is a member of the prestigious American Society of Anesthesiologists and the Pennsylvania Medical Society.

Elsewhere, Dr. Slevin is the Spine Intervention Society’s appointed American Medical Association delegate. The physician and interventional spine expert specializes in pain management, clinical decision support, and treatment algorithm development.

University College Dublin and University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine graduate Dr. Kieran Slevin co-founded North American Spine and Pain in 2014. Headquartered in Hainesport, New Jersey, the organization is now the leading tri-state area spine and pain care provider.

Want to learn more? Visit Dr. Slevin and the North American Spine and Pain team today!