A groundbreaking study presented at the 50th International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine (ISSLS) Annual Meeting 2024 in Milan, Italy, has shed new light on the understanding of Modic changes (MC) in patients suffering from chronic low back pain (cLBP). The research, which utilized Aclarion's Nociscan solution, a healthcare technology leveraging biomarkers and proprietary augmented intelligence (AI) algorithms, may pave the way for more personalized and effective treatments for millions of people worldwide affected by spinal degeneration and low back pain.
The prospective study, conducted by researchers at the REACH Center at UCSF, involved 88 patients with low back pain lasting more than three months. It aimed to clarify the biopsychosocial mechanisms of chronic low back pain by comparing intradiscal propionic acid (PA) levels adjacent to vertebral endplates with Modic changes. The research team used Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) and Nociscan to evaluate disc tissue non-invasively.
Dr. Aaron Fields, lead researcher on the study, stated, 'Our results challenge the notion that the disc environment is sterile. Furthermore, PA levels may be useful for understanding why some patients with MC improve or respond to treatment while others do not.' This finding could have significant implications for the diagnosis and treatment of chronic low back pain associated with Modic changes.
Aclarion's Nociscan solution is the first evidence-supported SaaS platform to noninvasively help physicians distinguish between painful and nonpainful discs in the lumbar spine. By objectively quantifying chemical biomarkers associated with disc pain, Nociscan provides critical insights into the location of a patient's low back pain when used in conjunction with other diagnostic tools.
The importance of this research becomes apparent when considering the global impact of spinal degeneration and low back pain, which affects an estimated 266 million people worldwide. Modic changes, which are MRI findings associated with endplate damage, neoinnervation, and chronic low back pain, have become an important area of research and development in recent years.
One of the key findings of the study is the potential role of propionic acid (PA) in stratifying patients with Modic changes for personalized treatment. PA is a metabolite of bacteria commonly found in disc infections, and there is currently no noninvasive method to diagnose disc infection. The ability to measure PA levels using Nociscan could lead to more targeted treatment approaches, such as using antibiotics as a first line of treatment for cLBP patients with high levels of PA.
Ryan Bond, Chief Strategy Officer at Aclarion, emphasized the company's focus on providing physicians with new noninvasive information to help make better decisions about patient care. 'It is rewarding to see clinicians recognizing the ability of Nociscan technology to identify biomarkers and thinking about how that information can potentially be used to provide personalized treatment plans aimed at improving patient outcomes,' Bond stated.
The implications of this research extend beyond the immediate findings. As the medical community continues to explore the complex nature of chronic low back pain, tools like Nociscan that can provide objective, noninvasive data may become increasingly valuable in developing more effective treatment strategies. This could lead to improved outcomes for patients, reduced healthcare costs, and a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of chronic pain.
As research in this field progresses, it is likely that we will see further integration of AI and biomarker analysis in the diagnosis and treatment of chronic low back pain. The use of Aclarion's Nociscan in this study demonstrates the potential for technology to play a crucial role in advancing our understanding of complex medical conditions and improving patient care.
While more research is needed to fully understand the implications of these findings, the study presented at the ISSLS Annual Meeting represents a significant step forward in the field of chronic low back pain research. As clinicians and researchers continue to explore the potential of Nociscan and similar technologies, patients suffering from chronic low back pain may have reason to hope for more effective, personalized treatments in the future.
