Nocimed has received the CE Mark for its Nociscan-LS disk MRI spectroscopy device, which helps physicians assess chemical markers associated with degenerative lumbar disk pain.
Standard lumbar MRI is not reliable for identifying sources of the pain from within the disks themselves, according to Nocimed. For this application, discogram is sometimes used, but it is invasive and poses risks to patients, the company said. Nociscan-LS performs a "virtual discogram" using a combination of a standard lumbar MRI followed by an MR spectroscopy scan.
Exam data are uploaded from the scanner to Nocimed's cloud-based postprocessor, which then evaluates spectral signatures for degenerative pain biomarkers in each disk examined. The device generates a rating for each disk imaged, with high and low scores correlating to positive (painful) and negative (nonpainful) results.
Nocimed's MR spectroscopy technology was invented by two of the company's co-founders, Dr. David Bradford and Jeff Lotz, PhD, both from the University of California, San Francisco. Nociscan-LS is still investigational in the U.S., but the company plans to submit it to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for review later this year, it said.
