Aclarion, Inc., ("Aclarion" or the "Company") (NASDAQ:ACON, ACONW))), a commercial-stage healthcare technology company that is leveraging biomarkers and proprietary augmented intelligence (AI) algorithms to help physicians identify the location of chronic low back pain, today announced that its Nociscan® magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) technology was used in a new research study exploring the biological factors associated with back pain in patients with Modic type 1 (MC1) changes, a condition marked by inflammation near the spinal disc.

The study, which received the 2026 ISSLS Best Paper Award, by investigators at University of Zurich, UCSF and the REACH Center, used Nociscan's underlying MRS methodology to non-invasively measure propionic acid (PA) — a metabolic byproduct associated with Cutibacterium acnes (a bacteria) — inside lumbar discs. Elevated PA levels were shown to identify a subgroup of MC1 patients with distinct systemic immune activation, particularly involving B-cells.

"Chronic low back pain affects 266 million people worldwide, and one of the biggest challenges is that standard imaging often cannot tell us what is actually causing a patient's pain," said Jeff Thramann, M.D., Executive Chairman of Aclarion. "This research is significant because it demonstrates that Nociscan's platform technology may be able to go further — helping clinicians understand not just which disc is painful, but whether that pain has a mechanical, inflammatory, or immune-associated origin. While we are still in the early stages, these findings may open a compelling avenue for expanding what Nociscan can ultimately offer to physicians and patients."

Expanding the Clinical Value of Nociscan Beyond Surgical Decision Support

Nociscan is commercially available as a decision-support tool that provides physicians with objective biochemical data for evaluating chronic low back pain. While its primary use today is helping surgeons understand which discs are likely to be painful according to the algorithm, this new research highlights additional potential applications of the underlying technology.

In this study, researchers used Nociscan technology to quantify intradiscal PA. Their findings suggest that biochemical signatures inside the disc may help clinicians:

  • Differentiate between biochemical signatures associated with mechanical, inflammatory, and infection-related processes in disc pain
  • Identify patients whose back pain may involve an immune or autoimmune component
  • Stratify MC1 patients into biologically distinct subgroups
  • Inform future research into personalized treatment strategies, including use of anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, or immune-modulating therapies



     

The significance of this research can be summarized as follows:

  • Some people with chronic low back pain have changes in the bone near the disc (Modic type 1)
  • Scientists have long suspected that these changes may involve inflammation, immune activation, or even low-grade bacterial involvement
  • Using the same type of chemical analysis that powers Nociscan, researchers measured a naturally occurring acid (propionic acid) inside the disc
  • Higher levels of this acid were linked to a specific pattern in the patient's immune system, especially activation of B-cells — the cells that make antibodies



     

Importantly, these findings suggest that back pain in some patients may be associated with an immune response, not just wear-and-tear or structural degeneration. In the future, Nociscan's platform technology may help clinicians understand not just which disc is painful but what type of biological process is driving a patient's pain, opening the door to more personalized spine care.

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