Session Description: Join us for a high-energy, rapid-fire debate tackling the most pressing ethical and socioeconomic dilemmas in the management of cancer-related pain. This dynamic session will explore controversies surrounding interventional pain therapies for patients with cancer and cancer survivors. Experts will debate critical issues such as equitable access to advanced pain treatments, the duty to relieve suffering, and the ethical considerations of interventional therapies versus pharmacologic approaches.
Structured as a fast-paced debate, this session will challenge perspectives and encourage discussion, providing a thought-provoking and interactive experience. Panelists will present opposing viewpoints on these complex topics. Expect compelling arguments and practical insights into navigating ethical challenges in cancer pain management. This session will deepen your understanding of the ethical tensions in cancer pain care and inspire new approaches to patient-centered decision-making.
Session Description: Management for complex facial pain disorders is a constant challenge for pain physicians, neurologists and neurosurgeons. This session aims to provide management options that focus on patient selection, surgical technique and outcomes .
This session will cover innovative treatments for facial deafferentation pain and painful trigeminal neuropathy. We will review the clinical differences between facial deafferentation pain and classic trigeminal neuralgia. We will review historical treatments for this difficult to treat population and discuss newer treatment options including high-cervical spinal cord stimulation that have shown promise.
Session Description: Pelvic pain remains a challenging condition requiring a multimodal approach for effective management. This panel will explore the latest advancements in interventional therapies, including Dorsal Root Ganglion (DRG) stimulation, Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS), Peripheral Nerve Stimulation (PNS), Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA), and pudendal nerve blocks.
Expert panelists will discuss patient selection, procedural techniques, and outcome optimization for these modalities in the treatment of chronic pelvic pain syndromes, including pudendal neuralgia, post-surgical pain, interstitial cystitis, and pelvic floor dysfunction. The session will feature clinical insights to illustrate best practices in tailoring interventions to individual patient needs.
Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of:
- The role of DRG stimulation in targeting focal pelvic pain
- Advances in SCS for widespread pain relief and neuromodulation strategies
- PNS applications for pelvic floor and lower abdominal pain
- The efficacy of RFA in pelvic pain
- The utility of pudendal nerve blocks as a diagnostic and therapeutic tool
By highlighting the interplay between these interventions, this panel will provide a framework for a comprehensive, evidence-based approach to pelvic pain management.
Session Description: There is a remarkable appetite for innovation amongst healthcare institutions, but it is largely fraught with limited success. Why? Health systems are designed to deliver safe patient care while minimizing expenditure in efforts to maintain diminishing profitability. This overwhelming environment severely limits a culture of risk-tolerant and disruptive innovation. Perhaps, it is time healthcare institutions learn from Silicon Valley – the epicenter of startup culture. The key factors contributing to the immensely successful entrepreneurial culture of Silicon Valley include pursuit of disruption, collaboration, risk tolerance, and a resilient work ethic. Founders of some of the most successful companies from Silicon Valley (i.e. Apple, Facebook, Tesla, eBay, etc.) have a common story – they thought big, they moved fast, they embraced failure, they recruited a great team, and they constantly evolved a great product. Today, these companies have market capitalization over one trillion dollars (USD).
In this session, we will evaluate and discuss the implementation of these factors within large academic health institutions in efforts to design an impactful innovation program inspired by Silicon Valley. In addition, we will highlight specific examples of successful innovation projects, licensing agreements, acquisition, and conversion to independent spin-off companies.
Session Description: As neuromodulation enters a new era of innovation, it becomes increasingly vital to revisit its scientific foundations while exploring how we define, measure, and validate clinical success. Foundation and Future in Neuromodulation Science will bring together three renowned thought leaders whose landmark work has shaped how we understand the mechanisms and evaluate the outcomes of neuromodulation.
This session will begin with a presentation by Dr. Apkar Vania Apkarian, a pioneering neuroscientist whose use of advanced neuroimaging has provided unprecedented insights into the mechanisms of pain and neuromodulation. His work using functional MRI to characterize brain circuitry alterations in chronic pain has laid the groundwork for mechanism-targeted therapies. Following this presentation, Dr. Sean Mackey, who is an expert in clinical outcomes research and pain measurement, will present on how we quantify the treatment effects of neuromodulation and pain interventions, exploring the interplay between objective data and the lived patient experience.
Following these presentations, a moderated panel discussion will provide an opportunity for interactive dialogue with the speakers, exploring implications for trial design, biomarker development, and translational science.
This plenary will conclude with the introduction of the NANS President and the delivery of the Presidential Address and Lifetime Achievement Award, spotlighting both the current and future landscape and legacy of leadership in neuromodulation.
Session Description: Focused ultrasound is a growing therapy option for many neurological diseases. Both high and low intensity focused ultrasound are finding new applications to treat disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor, and addiction. This course will focus on the neurosurgical approaches for treatment with outcomes and new data for emerging indications. This course will increase the learner’s knowledge in focused ultrasound and its use as an emerging treatment strategy.
Session Description: Enduring pain without sufficient relief can be overwhelming and profoundly impact a patient’s quality of life, particularly among cancer patients, where pain prevalence has been reported as high as 44.5%. Whether resulting from the cancer itself or its treatments, pain can significantly disrupt a patient’s path toward recovery and remission. Notably, survivorship does not guarantee relief, as up to 10% of cancer survivors continue to suffer from severe chronic pain. Historically, patients have often required high doses of opioids, which can lead to intolerable side effects such as sedation and constipation, further diminishing quality of life. To address these limitations, the use of intrathecal drug delivery systems (IDDS) has increased substantially in recent years as a means to provide effective pain relief with fewer systemic side effects. However, integrating intrathecal pump therapy into clinical practice presents numerous challenges, particularly for cancer-related and treatment-induced pain. These include establishing referral networks, navigating logistical barriers, and optimizing IDDS management to ensure safe and effective therapy. In this session, we aim to equip clinicians with the tools needed to build a successful and sustainable IDDS program, highlighting practical strategies for implementation, educational resources for pain fellows, advanced practice providers (APPs), and registered nurses, and key considerations for delivering high-quality care to this vulnerable patient population.
Session Description: This session explores the rapidly evolving field of light-based neuromodulation and photobiomodulation (PBM) for treating neurological disorders. Recent advances have demonstrated that specific wavelengths of light, particularly in the red to near-infrared spectrum (600-1300 nm), can effectively modulate neural activity through non-thermal photochemical mechanisms. Leading researchers will present cutting-edge developments in both transcranial and implantable PBM technologies, highlighting their applications across multiple neurological conditions including Parkinson's disease, traumatic brain injury, and neuropathic pain. Presentations will examine the fundamental cellular mechanisms underlying PBM, alongside novel approaches to selectively inhibit neural activity through optical methods. The session will showcase emerging clinical evidence from pioneering trials using intracranial photobiomodulation for Parkinson's disease, and advanced measurement techniques to quantify hemodynamic and metabolic responses to transcranial photobiomodulation. Speakers will address key challenges including optimizing light delivery parameters, enhancing tissue penetration, and developing appropriate biomarkers to monitor therapeutic efficacy. This session provides a comprehensive overview of light-based neuromodulation technologies that offer unique advantages in spatial and temporal precision while potentially modifying disease progression rather than merely managing symptoms.
Session Description: Optimizing outcomes and minimizing morbidities of implantable neuromodulation therapies for pain requires comprehensive multidisciplinary assessment, preparation, and post-implant follow-up care of patients who are considered appropriate candidates for these therapies. The panel in this proposed session consists of Pain Medicine physicians, Neurosurgeon, Clinical Nurse Specialist and Neuromodulation for Pain program co-ordinator, Psychologist, and a Neuromodulation outcomes researcher. The expertise and perspectives offered by this panel would allow the audience to gain insights into pertinent aspects of assessment, pre-implant education, and post-implant optimization of patients who receive neuromodulation implants for pain. The panelists will share their personal experience and knowledge of use of validated and widely available assessment tools, neuromodulation education sessions for patients and their carers, and post-implant support therapies including physical and psychological therapies for optimization of outcomes of neuromodulation.
Session Description: Chronic knee pain is a debilitating condition and a leading cause of pain and disability, with osteoarthritis and post-total knee arthroplasty being among the most common and challenging etiologies. Despite its prevalence, significant gaps remain in understanding innervation patterns, and optimal neuromodulation strategies to effectively manage this complex condition. This panel brings together leading experts to explore the latest advancements in understanding chronic knee pain and present evidence-based approaches for targeted treatments.
Session Description: Recently, the field of neuromodulation has encountered significant challenges, including increased insurance scrutiny and difficulties with patient access. This session will outline these challenges and present strategies to maintain and improve access to neuromodulation-based therapies.
Session Description: This session features the most up-to-date research and emerging discoveries, offering timely insights into evolving trends and future directions in the neuromodulation field.
Session Description: This will be a dynamic and insightful panel discussion featuring Editor-in-Chiefs from leading chronic pain and neuromodulation journals, with a plan to delve into the critical aspects of advancing research and manuscript preparation in this rapidly evolving field. Our distinguished panel will tackle pivotal topics such as the vision for future research in neuromodulation, strategies for crafting impactful manuscripts, and the common pitfalls that can hinder a successful submission.
Further, this panel will address burning questions that authors often face, including how to navigate the editorial review process effectively and the importance of revisions in enhancing manuscript quality. In addition, the session will explore collaborative initiatives between journals, emphasizing shared goals that could collectively propel the field forward, such as through the development of multisociety guidelines. Attendees will gain valuable insights on assessing the suitability of a journal for their work and learning about the challenges and benefits posed by the abundance of pain journals. Our goal is to spark a thought-provoking discussion on the need for consolidation and high-quality evidence within the field.
Session Description: Join us for an exciting exploration of first-in-human clinical experience using high-resolution cortical arrays in the intraoperative environment. Developments in brain computer interface (BCI) technologies have resulted in flexible, thin-film arrays with 100s to 1,000s of microelectrodes to record neural activity at high-resolution without penetrating the brain. This non-damaging approach has enabled short-duration testing of BCIs during standard neurosurgical procedures such as deep brain stimulation implantation or tumor resection. In this context, we can decode awake behaviors and map functional brain regions, revealing neural patterns at resolutions never before seen. In this session, you’ll hear firsthand from the neurosurgeons and scientists at the forefront of implementing this technology in the operating room. Details will be shared on best practices for deploying high-resolution thin-film arrays during burr-hole and open craniotomy procedures and designing intraoperative experiment paradigms compatible with standard surgical workflows. You’ll also discover exciting scientific results of real-time decoding of hand gestures and speech using only minutes of intraoperative data, and methods for two-dimensional microscale mapping of neuro-anotomical boundaries. This session will spark discussions of creative intraoperative experimental paradigms, hypotheses, and surgical approaches for testing high-resolution, thin-film BCIs.
Session Description: This 90-minute interactive session will explore the role of wearable sensor technology in neuromodulation therapy, with a focus on dorsal column and dorsal horn stimulation, precision and quantitative pain profiling, nd noninvasive neuromodulation treatment options. Through three expert-led mini-presentations, attendees will learn about using wearables to track and quantify objective outcomes such as physical activity, sleep quality, resting heart rate, gait speed, and mood in patients receiving neuromodulation therapy. The session will also highlight emerging applications of remote monitoring and discuss how digital health tools can enhance real-world patient assessments. Following these presentations, the session will feature 30 minutes of top-ranked abstracts and conclude with a moderated discussion on future directions in wearable-integrated neuromodulation.
Session Description: This session will explore new and advanced treatment options in epilepsy neuromodulation. This will include discussion about how neuromodulation complements resection in this field, and how these two treatment strategies may even be combined in the same patient. We will also explore the recently growing field of thalamic SEEG, and how thalamic recordings may help optimize target selection for neurostimulation. Finaly, while most brain stimulation strategies were originally studied only in adult epilepsy patients, we will explore novel approaches in children with drug resistant epilepsy.
Session Description: Neuromodulation is a rapidly advancing field of medicine that can offer promising treatments for patients who suffer from chronic pain and other neurological and psychiatric comorbidities but also raises significant ethical concerns. These include access and equity, implanter bias, data and privacy security, and ethical issues when dealing with minors. The session will explore these ethical attributes and emphasize the need for a framework to guide ethical applications in neuromodulation technologies.
Session Description: This session will be a panel discussion to answer the proposed clinical question: Should we ablate or stimulate the lumbar medial branch nerve (LMBN) to treat chronic axial low back pain? Speakers will be experts in the field of pain medicine with an emphasis in comprehensive, multidisciplinary spine care from different academic centers nationwide. We will utilize audiovisual aids and have an interactive discussion with the audience reviewing the evidence based behind the clinical question proposed with time for Q&A, slides presentations, review of guidelines and newly published evidence from (past 3 years) on this topic that have the potential to alter the way we perform LMBN ablation and LMBN stimulation and how we may evolve in clinical practice.