SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — March 31, 2026 — For the first time in Arizona, and only the second time in the U.S., HonorHealth Research Institute treated a patient with a new type of lumbar spine disc repair that provides immediate relief of pain and maintains the patient’s full range of motion.
Called a PerQdisc, this replacement system is designed to substitute the leaking jelly cushion material (the nucleus pulposus) in the center of disc spaces, in between the building blocks of the spine. Like a flat tire, when there is a tear in the annulus and the jelly leaks out, the disc depressurizes and a person can experience pain.
For years, physicians have either fused the vertebrae, limiting motion, or inserted a substitute artificial disc, which is a more extensive surgery. Insertion of a PerQdisc is a new, less-invasive procedure that preserves the outer part of the disc, preserves motion, maintains mobility, and restores functionality while preventing any further deterioration of the spine.
”If the loss of jelly results in a deflated disc and causes pain, why can’t we just pressurize the jelly again and alleviate the pain? The answer has to be yes,” said Luis Tumialan, M.D., an ASU School of Medicine and Medical Engineering neurosurgeon who specializes in spine and neurosurgery as part of the HonorHealth Research Institute’s Neuroscience Research Division.
Addresses pain in the lower back
For now, the procedure is limited to the space between the L2 and L3 vertebrae, between the L3 and L4 vertebrae, and between the L4 and L5 vertebrae; all three in the lower lumbar region, which are the most common parts of the spine for such deterioration to occur.
Using a metallic straw about 6mm in diameter, Dr. Tumialan takes out the original jelly material and fills it back up with a type of small balloon filled with a silicone substitute: “What we're doing is we are using silicone to re-pressurize the disc and in doing so we alleviate the mechanical compression of the disc and decrease the pain.”
The simplicity of this one-visit procedure, which allows the patient to go home and resume normal activities the same day, begs the question of why it hasn’t been done previously.
Dr. Tumialan said physicians have advocated for such a procedure for decades, but only now has a San Antonio, Texas, manufacturer, Spinal Stabilization Technologies, been able to perfect the right materials and technique to make it work.
Procedure for middle-aged patients
The procedure is intended for those in their middle years, those 25 to 50 years old. Those younger than 25 generally don’t experience much deterioration, and those older than 50 may experience so much deterioration that this procedure is no longer available to them.
“After the age of 25, any of us can start to degenerate in our discs. We need to capture those patients early, the patients who we would ordinarily say, look, there's nothing we can do for you right now. Come back when you are worse,” said Dr. Tumialan, who has studied the procedure as it has been developed over the past five years in Europe and elsewhere. “With the PerQdisc, there's something that we can do for them now.”
In the case of Dr. Tumialan’s first patient, a middle-aged woman from Los Angeles, she was considering getting married, but the disc pain she was experiencing was giving her second thoughts about her engagement.
“It was weighing on her,” the doctor said. “Something that's under-recognized is the degree to which chronic pain can cause depression.”
Dr. Tumialan said his job was made easier because his patient is an engineer and has a sophisticated understanding of the strength of materials and how they can weaken over time.
“She grasped how a weakened element of a structure (the disc) can detrimentally impact the structural integrity of the entire spine and how that can lead to pain. So, this procedure resonated with her, once I explained the logic behind it,” he said.
The patient was treated in November under the Institute’s DISCPAIN1 clinical trial. She has returned for observation and is doing great, Dr. Tumialan said: “She is also now engaged and preparing to embark on a whole new chapter of her life.”
For more about HonorHealth Research Institute clinical trials: call 833-354-6667; or email clinicaltrials@HonorHealth.com .
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About the HonorHealth Research Institute
HonorHealth Research Institute is an international destination that is at the forefront of providing patients with a better quality of life through its clinical trials and innovative treatment options. Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, the institute’s team of physicians and researchers collaborate with experts from across the nation to offer life-changing therapies, drugs and devices. At HonorHealth Research Institute, patients have access to tomorrow’s health innovations, today. Learn more at: HonorHealth.com/research .
Randomized controlled/clinical trial
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