TV personality Carson Daly is bringing positive attention to Relievant Medsystems, a Twin Cities-based medical company that developed a technology used in his recent back surgery.
The "Today" show co-host underwent surgery to address chronic lower back pain last week; the procedure was filmed and Daly shared the story with NBC viewers Monday morning.
Back surgeons have long focused on treating discs in a patient's back. Relievant's Intracept system focuses on vertebrogenic pain, a specific type of back pain caused by damage to the vertebral endplates, where discs attach to the vertebrae.
The Intracept procedure uses radiofrequency energy to stop the nerve from sending pain signals to the brain. It has been in commercial use since 2018 with more than 5,000 Intracept procedures completed to date in the U.S.
"Hopefully it will help some people because there's some new technology that's out there that's definitely helped relieving some sharp pain," said Daly, 48, when he returned to the show on Thursday, previewing this week's longer segment.
The outpatient procedure lasts about an hour with patients sent home the same day. No implants or hardware are left in the patient's body.
Daly's back was injured in a snowmobile accident in 1997 while working for MTV. He told viewers he has struggled with lower back pain for 25 years and has tried a host of treatments.
The Intracept procedure didn't remove all his pain, but did lessen the sharpest pains.