Spinal technology, new spinal procedures, and other treatments continue to advance, offering patients faster healing, quicker recovery, and better outcomes, including greater mobility and a superior quality of life. Cervical disc replacement is one such example.

As a key part of our mission at the Center for Spine & Orthopedics (CSO), our highly trained and skilled physicians are committed to continually seeking new ways to provide greater excellence in clinical care. Our commitment to research has enabled us to do this since our facility opened in 1994.

CSO founder and spine surgeon, Dr. Michael Janssen, was a principal investigator for total disc replacement (TDR) and participated in the initial clinical trials of this technology. He was one of the first surgeons in our nation to perform TDR surgery. Since the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) approved the ProDisc in 2006, he has performed more than 1,000 complex TDR surgeries and is considered one of the top experts the world in performing this procedure.

Dr. Janssen founded the Scientific Research and Education Foundation for the purpose of advancing further research and sharing new knowledge as we train spine fellows from around the world at our facility.

Current Studies

Currently, Dr. Janssen is involved in these two research studies:

Centinel Spine Clinical Study for Total Disc Replacement for Two-Level Symptomatic Cervical Disc Disease

This is a randomized controlled trial comparing the safety and effectiveness of Prodisc® C SK and Prodisc® C Vivo to Mobi-C® Cervical Disc in the treatment of two-level symptomatic cervical disc disease (SCDD). Dr. Jacob Rumley, another spine surgeon at the Center for Spine & Orthopedics, is also a researcher in this study. – Click here to learn more.

Aspire Trial: A New Alternative to Spinal Fusion

This research study has been designed to determine if the use of P-15L Bone Graft is as good at fusing bones surrounding your damaged disc as using your own bone and possibly donor bone following a spinal fusion surgery. It is believed that fusing the bones will help in relieving your pain and loss of function. – Click here to learn more.