Aclarion Announces Achievement of Goal to Enroll 10 Leading Spine Surgery Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) to Support Nociscan Adoption

Recruitment of a panel of leading KOL surgeons who believe Nociscan can improve the diagnosis and treatment of discogenic low back pain is a critical step to establishing Nociscan as standard of care.

Aclarion’s KOL panel represents spine surgeons at some of the largest and most influential academic centers and private practices in the country, including leaders of national societies that advocate for protocols to improve clinical treatments.

The Company intends to activate MRIs for each KOL surgeon to expand Nociscan access for their patients and demonstrate clinical outcome improvements to payers.

Aclarion will release initial scan volume data before end of year and begin reporting on quarterly scan volume in 2024 as increasing scan volume is a proxy for increasing revenue and probability for a local payer coverage decision.

BROOMFIELD, CO, Nov. 08, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NewMediaWire – Aclarion, Inc., (“Aclarion” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: ACON, ACONW), a healthcare technology company that is leveraging biomarkers and proprietary augmented intelligence algorithms to help physicians identify the location of chronic low back pain, announced today that they have successfully achieved their goal of enrolling ten leading spine surgery KOLs to assist the company in driving Nociscan to standard of care for identifying discogenic low back pain. 

“Since executing our IPO last year, Aclarion has consistently achieved catalysts of value creation that fall into a very concise framework of technology readiness, clinical evidence, and surgeon advocacy that are proven to bring disruptive technological advancements to standard of care in the healthcare sector,” said Brent Ness, Chief Executive Officer of Aclarion.  “The steps we have taken in a short timeframe demonstrate that our actions follow our stated intentions. We are incredibly proud of the KOL panel that has rallied to help bring Nociscan to standard of care.”

A cornerstone to the company’s strategy is key opinion leader (KOL) advocacy. Aclarion has now achieved its objective of engaging 10 leading spine physicians who are adopting Nociscan in their practices to address a major gap with conventional lumbar MR imaging, which cannot differentiate between pain and aging. Our KOL advisors are focused on advancing value-based healthcare through improved outcomes while advocating to societies and payers using patient data, as well as peer-reviewed, published clinical evidence. “Our KOLs interest in Nociscan directly reflects the challenge of diagnosing and treating low back pain, and we are pleased to have these physicians advancing spine care with Nociscan,” stated Ryan Bond, Chief Strategy Officer of Aclarion. 

KOLs, consultants, and advisors now include:

• Chris Ames, MD; University of CA San Francisco
• Gregory Basil, MD MBA; University of Miami
• Sigurd Berven, MD; University of CA San Francisco
• George Frey, MD; Advent Health Colorado
• Roger Hartl, MD; Weill Cornell Brain and Spine Center, New York, NY
• Dean Karahalios, MD; Advocate Aroura Health System
• James Keller, MD; University of Michigan Health West
• Alpesh Patel, MD MBA; Northwestern
• Eric Potts, MD; St. Vincent’s, Ascension
• Juan Uribe, MD; Barrow Neurological Institute
• Bob Eastlack, MD; Scripps (Surgeon Advisor)
• Timothy Ryken, MD; (Consultant)
• Lawrence Tannenbaum, MD; RadNet (MD Advisor)
• Jeffrey Lotz, PhD; University of CA San Francisco (Scientific Advisor)

The Company will announce MRI access expansion for each KOL as their MRIs are onboarded.  Drs Frey and Hartl already have access and have utilized Nociscan in their clinical practices.  As MRI access increases, so too will potential scan volume, peer reviewed evidence, and revenue.

For more information about the BEST Trial, please visit: www.besttrial.org
For information about BACPAC, please visit: https://heal.nih.gov/research/clinical-research/back-pain
For more information about REACH, please visit: www.bacpac-reach.org
For more information about our published evidence, please visit: www.aclarion.com
For information about access to Nociscan please visit: www.aclarion.com

About Aclarion, Inc.

Aclarion is a healthcare technology company that leverages Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (“MRS”), proprietary signal processing techniques, biomarkers, and augmented intelligence algorithms to optimize clinical treatments. The Company is first addressing the chronic low back pain market with Nociscan, the first, evidence-supported, SaaS platform to noninvasively help physicians distinguish between painful and nonpainful discs in the lumbar spine. Through a cloud connection, Nociscan receives magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) data from an MRI machine for each lumbar disc being evaluated. In the cloud, proprietary signal processing techniques extract and quantify chemical biomarkers demonstrated to be associated with disc pain. Biomarker data is entered into proprietary algorithms to indicate if a disc may be a source of pain. When used with other diagnostic tools, Nociscan provides critical insights into the location of a patient’s low back pain, giving physicians clarity to optimize treatment strategies.  For more information, please visit www.aclarion.com.

Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 about the Company's current expectations about future results, performance, prospects and opportunities. Statements that are not historical facts, such as "anticipates," "believes" and "expects" or similar expressions, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on the current plans and expectations of management and are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks that could significantly affect the Company's current plans and expectations, as well as future results of operations and financial condition. These and other risks and uncertainties are discussed more fully in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are encouraged to review the section titled "Risk Factors" in the Company's Prospectus dated April 21, 2022, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 25, 2022 under Rule 424(b)(4), as well as other disclosures contained in the Prospectus and subsequent filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are made as of this date and the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Investor Contacts:
Kirin M. Smith
PCG Advisory, Inc.
646.823.8656
[email protected]

Media Contacts:
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SPRIG Consulting
612.812.7477
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