Aclarion, Inc. (Nasdaq: ACON, ACONW), a commercial-stage healthcare technology company, announced a second commercial agreement with Weill Cornell Medicine to expand the use of its Nociscan platform in a clinical trial led by renowned neurosurgeon Roger Härtl, MD. The trial, titled “Bone Marrow Aspirate Concentrate Injection with MRI’s – a Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial” (IRB Protocol No. 24-09027977), will evaluate the long-term effects of lumbar microdiscectomy surgery with and without an intradiscal bone marrow aspirate concentrate (BMAC) injection on patient outcomes, intervertebral disc health, and pain biomarkers over two years.
The study aims to deepen understanding of degenerative disc disease (DDD), its causes, and potential treatments. Dr. Härtl, founder and director of the Weill Cornell Medicine Center for Comprehensive Spine Care and co-director of Och Spine at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, emphasized the trial's focus: “Our scientific interest focuses on clinical and basic science research surrounding innovative and less invasive surgical and biological treatment strategies for degenerative diseases of the spine. This trial strives to enhance our understanding of disc degeneration in patients, and illuminate chemical aspects of disc degeneration not available with traditional imaging.”
This marks the second trial at Weill Cornell Medicine to incorporate Nociscan, which uses magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and proprietary augmented intelligence algorithms to noninvasively identify painful discs in the lumbar spine. Ryan Bond, Chief Strategy Officer of Aclarion, noted, “We are pleased to engage in this trial with Dr. Härtl and his team at Weill Cornell. Not only are Dr. Härtl and his colleagues renowned for their clinical excellence, their commitment to pioneering research is evident through this prospective randomized trial evaluating disc degeneration and the potential effects of bone marrow aspirate concentrate. Progressive trials such as this one are a clear example for how healthcare advances – investigating a major global health issue, like degenerative disc disease, while using innovative tools like Nociscan.”
Chronic low back pain affects approximately 266 million people worldwide, according to research cited by Aclarion. Nociscan is the first evidence-supported SaaS platform to help physicians distinguish between painful and nonpainful discs, demonstrating a 97% surgical success rate when all Nociscan-identified pain-positive discs are treated. The platform analyzes chemical biomarkers from MRS data to provide objective insights into the source of pain, complementing traditional imaging.
The agreement expands Aclarion's footprint in academic medicine and underscores the potential of Nociscan to advance research and treatment of degenerative spine disease. More information about Aclarion and Nociscan is available at www.aclarion.com.
