Aclarion

Aclarion, Inc. is a healthcare technology firm targeting the chronic low back pain market, an affliction affecting approximately 266 million people globally. The company was incorporated in 2008, originally as Nocimed, Inc., and rebranded to Aclarion in December 2021. The core science originated from research at the University of California San Francisco, led by spine researcher Jeff Lotz, who was working to identify biomarkers correlated with lumbar disc pain. The company went public on the Nasdaq (ACON) in April 2022, closing an initial public offering of $9.4 million.

The company is led by Executive Chairman Dr. Jeff Thramann, a neurosurgeon and serial entrepreneur, and CEO Brent Ness, who joined in September 2021 and has over 25 years of experience in the medical device and healthcare technology sectors. Dr. Thramann's background includes founding several medtech companies that were later acquired, and he is the named inventor on over 100 patents.

Aclarion’s business centers on its flagship product, Nociscan, a Software-as-a-SaaS platform. This platform noninvasively helps physicians distinguish between painful and non-painful spinal discs, a common diagnostic challenge in treating chronic low back pain. The technology leverages Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) to analyze chemical biomarkers in the intervertebral discs. The process involves a proprietary software protocol, NOCISCAN MRS Exam Protocol, used with existing MRI machines to gather spectroscopy data. This data is then transmitted to Aclarion's cloud platform, where proprietary signal processing and algorithms analyze the chemical biomarkers to generate a NOCI+/NOCI- score for each disc. The entire Nociscan suite includes the NOCICALC-LS and NOCIGRAM-LS post-processing products.

The company's revenue model is derived from the delivery of Nociscan reports to medical professionals, primarily in the United States. By providing objective data on the source of pain, Nociscan aims to help surgeons optimize treatment plans, potentially improving surgical outcomes. Clinical data suggests a significant improvement in outcomes when surgical treatment is concordant with Nociscan's findings. Aclarion is actively engaged in clinical trials, like the pivotal CLARITY trial, to further validate the clinical and economic value of Nociscan, with the goal of establishing it as a standard of care. The company has secured insurance coverage from major private insurers in the UK and is pursuing broader payer coverage in the U.S.

Keywords: chronic low back pain, spine diagnostics, Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy, medical SaaS, pain biomarkers, Nociscan, discogenic pain, surgical decision support, healthcare technology, clinical treatment optimization, ACON, Jeff Thramann, noninvasive diagnostic, spinal surgery, medical imaging software, digital health, musculoskeletal, health tech, spine care, value-based care, diagnostic imaging, personalized medicine