The basic components of many of these systems are remarkably similar. Most feature an implanted pulse generator (IPG) connected to leads that carry an electrical stimulus to targeted nerves via carefully placed electrodes. A controller outside the body programs the implanted system for a stimulus regimen customized to the patient.

Until recent years, however, the number of patients helped by neurostimulation was relatively small versus alternate therapies, such as drugs and surgery. But advances in microprocessors, biocompatible materials, batteries, RF communications and software are now combining to produce much more effective systems, as well as easier to implant and, most important of all, more patient-friendly. At the same time, the medical world's increased understanding of the nervous system, coupled with favorable results from actual treatment and clinical trials, have led more physicians to consider neurostimulation as a viable choice for their patients.

“There's a growing realization that drugs can't cure everyone and that they often produce harmful side-effects,” says James Cavuoto, a biomedical engineer and editor/publisher of Neurotech Reports, a monthly newsletter serving neurotechnology companies and the investment community. “So, clinicians are now more open to new treatment strategies.”

He adds, acceptance of neurotechnology devices also have benefited from favorable publicity, such as that surrounding radio personality Rush Limbaugh, who received a cochlear implant in 2001 after going deaf.

With these and other factors at work, a market study by Neurotech Reports predicts sales of neurotechnology products worldwide will more than double from about $3.1 billion in 2006 to $7.6 billion in 2010.

Those rosy growth projections have caught the attention of device makers and suppliers. Venture capital firms are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into startup neurotech firms. At the same time, medical giants, such as Medtronic, St. Jude and Boston Scientific, are expanding their neurostimulation programs and buying independent companies that have established footholds in specific neurotech niches.

“We see this market as one with very significant growth potential,” says Todd Schneider, medical group VP for AMI Semiconductor, which supplies microprocessors for neurostimulation devices. “Yet the industry is still in its infancy, so the sky's the limit.”