Pain Management Specialist Dr. David Maine Provides Osteocool for Patients

Painful metastatic bone tumors affect about 50% of patients with advanced cancers, and up to 30% of patients with spinal metastases receive no relief with radiation, chemotherapy, surgery, etc. Now there is a new device cleared by the U.S. FDA for treating the pain these tumors can cause. 

“The OsteoCool device uses high-frequency energy to ablate metastatic spinal tumors to reduce patient pain,” said Dr. David Maine, Director of The Center for Interventional Pain Medicine. 

The OsteoCool system uses two water-cooled probes that release heat, but at a controlled lower temperature, to prevent charring. OsteoCool spreads the heat over a region large enough to ablate most metastatic vertebral tumors, as well as any nearby nerve endings that transmit pain signals.

“Temperature-controlled probes are placed through the needles and positioned on either side of the tumor. The temperature is raised for a few minutes, long enough to kill the tumor and any nearby pain sensors, but without harming healthy bone,” Dr. Maine said.