Eon and Eon Mini Implantable Pulse Generators (IPG) are devices manufactured by St. Jude Medical and are used to help manage chronic back pain through the use of electrical currents. The devices are implanted near the spine, providing spinal cord stimulation to help manage pain resulting from failed back surgery syndrome, severe nerve-related pain, and other chronic pain syndromes. Thousands of the IPG devices have been recalled due to serious injuries caused by battery issues.
According to the FDA, in some cases, the batteries would fail to keep their charge, preventing patients from access to pain relief. In other reported cases, the device would overheat while the patient was charging the battery, causing first and second degree burns.