Inside In the OR: Mastering the Cervical Discseel® Procedure & High-Purity Exosomes | USA Training Report | USA Training Report

These are the 3rd and 4th days of my training in the United States. Today, we conducted clinical practice. The objective of this hands-on training is to master advanced medical techniques directly within a real-world treatment setting.

Discseel® Procedure for the Cervical Spine

We began with treatment for the cervical spine (the neck). Patients are given a sedative to help them sleep while the neck area is disinfected, so they experience no anxiety or pain. They simply lie down and sleep through the procedure.

While a treatment tube is inserted into the cervical spine, with the right anatomical knowledge, it can be positioned into the intervertebral disc in just about 10 seconds. Since the needle is extremely thin, there are no issues even if it happens to touch a blood vessel or nerve.

Due to licensing restrictions, I cannot show the full video, but this is the Discseel® Procedure in progress. Furthermore, if an annulogram shows that the damaged part of the disc is on the nerve side and contrast medium is leaking into the epidural space, the treatment effect is significantly enhanced by adding high-concentration exosomes using a specialized method. I was informed that low-concentration exosomes are far less effective.

High-concentration exosomes were also being administered for osteoarthritis of the hip and knee. It was reported that this treatment offers higher efficacy and longer-lasting results than PRP or stem cell therapies. Dr. Pauza, who supervised the training, has personally undergone PRP, stem cell therapy, and high-concentration exosome treatment for his own hip osteoarthritis, and he noted that only the exosomes provided real relief.

Spending all day in the treatment room was incredibly exhausting, but it was a profound experience. Regarding cervical spine treatment, training is only permitted for those who have over 10 years of experience in lumbar treatment or have performed over 5,000 Discseel® Procedures. While many doctors in the U.S. treat the lumbar spine, very few have reached the level of performing cervical procedures. In Asia, Nonaka Low Back Pain Clinic is a pioneer in this field.

Unfortunately, high-purity exosome preparations containing 10 billion particles per ml currently only exist in the United States (the manufacturing process is reportedly protected by 15 patents). In Japan, preparations typically contain only around 2 billion particles per ml, and their therapeutic effects are said to be limited. Fortunately, as Dr. Pauza is deeply involved in the distribution of these high-concentration particles, it appears we will be able to introduce them to our clinic in the future. While they are very expensive, they are expected to significantly improve the outcomes of both cervical and lumbar treatments.

Summary

I was amazed to see how technological innovations in the field of regenerative medicine—starting with the Discseel® Procedure—have reached such an advanced clinical level in North America. I also learned that the development of Discseel® and high-purity exosome treatments requires billions of dollars in investment, all funded by corporations and investors. The scale is simply on another level. I look forward to returning to Japan soon to provide the treatment techniques I have gained through this training.