The American Food and Drug Administration (the equivalent of our National Medicines Safety Agency) has just given its agreement to a small Belgian company, Cefaly Technology, to launch its anti-migraine tiara on the American market. This company, which works in the field of muscle stimulation applied to sports medicine, has developed the first medical device capable of preventing migraines.
The innovative idea was to apply the principle of external stimulation, whereas neurostimulant treatments had previously involved the implantation of electrodes internally, particularly in the spinal cord for the treatment of chronic pain. An idea that the Food and drug administration considered sufficiently innovative to authorize the Belgian company to market its anti-migraine tiara on American territory.
electrodes on the forehead
The principle of the device is to activate by an electrode which is placed on the forehead, the trigeminal nerve which runs under the forehead and transmits the sensation of pain to the brain.
“In the United States, a new, non-invasive and non-drug treatment is immediately perceived as positive, whereas in Europe, the drug, and the methods already proven, remain the reference” explains Pierre Rigaux, founding doctor of the society.
Migraine is the most intense and painful, even debilitating form of headache. This neurological disease affects 15% of the world’s population. And for one out of four migraine sufferers, the severity of the attacks has a significant impact, generating pain for 48 hours in a row.
If it does not claim to cure migraine, the electrode device can greatly reduce the consumption of painkillers and can slow the evolution of episodic migraines into chronic migraines, the most debilitating. It has been marketed in Europe since 2009.
