Marom Bikson interviews: Elliot Krames on “"The Inside History of SCS 1" скачать в хорошем качестве

Marom Bikson interviews: Elliot Krames on “"The Inside History of SCS 1"

Cite as: "The Inside History of SCS 2” with Elliot Krames (2025) Neuromodec Journal. Marom Bikson, Elliot Krames. DOI: doi.org/10.31641/nmj-KROZ3559 Full interview transcript at: https://neuromodec.org/2025/11/the-in... This is part 2. Part 1 interview Thomas Mortimer.    • Marom Bikson interviews: Thomas Mortimer o...   Part 2 summary: Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) for pain emerged at the intersection of obstetrical anesthesia, cancer pain management, and implantable device technology. Elliot Krames, an anesthesiologist trained at UCSF, became a central figure in transforming SCS from a niche neurosurgical procedure into a multidisciplinary field and specialty society structure. This oral history interview reconstructs Krames’ career trajectory and the parallel technical and organizational evolution of neuromodulation for pain, from the early 1970s through the 2010s, using first-person narrative of clinical cases, device development, and society and journal formation. Results: Krames’ early experience with epidural and intraspinal morphine for labor and cancer pain catalyzed the creation of one of the first cancer pain clinics and an intrathecal pump program. After gaining surgical privileges, he became the first anesthesiologist to implant SCS systems, helping shift implantation from open laminectomy with paddle leads to percutaneous leads. He describes the competitive but largely incremental evolution of systems from radiofrequency-driven, non-programmable four-contact leads to fully implantable, externally programmable multilead, multichannel platforms developed by Medtronic, Neuromed/ANS, Advanced Bionics, and others, with more categorical innovation arising later from high-frequency stimulation (Nevro) and closed-loop systems (Saluda). In parallel, Krames founded or helped reshape key institutions: the journal Neuromodulation, the North American Neuromodulation Society as the first INS chapter, and the “Neuromodulation: The Science” meetings to give dedicated space to basic science, engineering, and mechanism-of-action research. This interview highlights how individual clinicians, industry partnerships, and dedicated scientific fora collectively transformed SCS from an experimental technique into a mature, multidisciplinary neuromodulation field, while underscoring the continuing need for mechanistic and engineering science to guide future innovation.