Here is an interesting article about using EMFs and
vibration to restore bone mass due to osteoporosis.
It also has other applications including relief of
arthritis;
http://www.sciencenews.org/sn_arc99/11_13_99/bob2.htm
Resembling an upright bathroom scale with handlebars,
the vibrating machine sent a gentle buzzing through
every bone in her body.
Most mornings, Andreason read the newspaper or
blow-dried her hair while putting in 10 minutes on the
device. Before bedtime, she'd step on the platform for
a second 10-minute buzz.
This shaky therapy may represent the future of bone
health. Preliminary data from Andreason and 51 other
postmenopausal recruits suggest that in some cases,
the platform's vibrations may be able to halt the
rapid bone loss that occurs in most older women, says
Kenneth J. McLeod, a co-inventor of the device.
Even newer data from a 2-year study of sheep suggest
that scientists might be able to tailor the regimen to
increase the mass of the bones most vulnerable to
age-related thinning.
The vibrating platform appears to work by triggering
bones to generate tiny electric fields, explains
McLeod of the State University of New York at Stony
Brook, who directed the sheep experiments. These tiny
currents may turn on genes that affect bone remodeling
and growth.
The experimental osteoporosis-fighting machine
represents just one technology in a wave of new
applications of electric and magnetic fields (EMFs) to
bone injuries and related problems. All build on
decades of work by physicists and surgeons. Though
much of this work remains experimental, the Food and
Drug Administration acknowledges that when properly
applied, EMFs can make for good medicine
Over the past 20 years, FDA has approved EMF
generators for two medical uses. The devices are used
frequently to treat bone fractures that have stopped
healing. EMF treatment is also increasingly being
applied to fuse spinal vertebrae in people with
intractable back pain.
The first inkling of potential benefits from EMFs
emerged during the 1950s, McLeod notes. That's when a
series of experiments showed that bone is
piezoelectric, meaning that bending or deforming its
crystal structure creates local electric currents.
Physiologists quickly linked these currents to bone
growth in studies that seemed to explain why exercise
strengthens bones and immobilization weakens them.
This link suggested that electric currents could be
applied as therapy
For EMFs to penetrate the body, the coils must carry a
pulsing electric current, he explains—not the simpler
direct currents associated with electrode-generated
fields. In designing the waveform for these
oscillating fields—their shape, amplitude, and
frequency—"we were guided by measurements people were
making of natural, mechanically induced voltages in
bone," Pilla recalls. The waveforms of these
therapeutic EMFs differ dramatically from those
generated by power lines and indoor wiring.
McLeod says that in his newest tests with aging sheep,
platforms vibrating at 90 Hz increased bone mass. This
suggests that tripling the vibration frequency of the
platform used for the Creighton trial might build new
bone, not just stabilize loss.
Moreover, if the sheep data translate to people, he
suspects that women would need just 8 minutes a day on
the faster-vibrating device. "This is really exciting
because 8 minutes is easy," he says.
Aaron concludes that fields associated with electric
power may exert a beneficial influence on such tissues
rather than harm them.
All this basic research may add up to more effective
devices and ubiquitous applications. For instance,
Pilla says he believes generators might one day be
miniaturized to the size of a dime and cost next to
nothing.
He envisions disposable bandages incorporating a tiny
EMF device that would treat problems ranging from
ankle sprains to bedsores.
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