Pulsed Electromagnetic Field (pEMF)*

Treating human ailments with magnets can be traced back as far as 4000 BC. In the 19th century, the science around magnetic fields and electromagnetism began to come into focus. Michael Faraday, an English scientist, proposed the concept of electromagnetic fields. In the early 20th century, American Nikola Tesla invented an electrical coil that has become the standard magnetic loop coil seen in most current PEMF systems. In the U.S., veterinarians began using PEMF to treat animals long before it was used to treat humans. The FDA first approved a PEMF system in 1979 for use as a bone stimulator to treat non-union fractures. [6] In 2003 Thomas Goodwin, Ph.D., published the results of a four-year study on PEMF conducted by him in collaboration with others at NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. [7] The purpose of that study was to examine the ability of PEMF therapy to enhance the repair of tissues in mammals. That study concluded that PEMF was effective at healing and regeneration of damaged tissue, increasing the rate of cell growth and improving cell life using extremely low frequency (ELF) and low-intensity PEMF of varying waveforms as well as what is known as up-regulation of certain genes related to healing. Since then, the FDA has cleared at least two devices to treat postoperative pain [8] and musculoskeletal pain. [9] Currently, there is at least one clinical trial underway in the U.S. designed to assess the efficacy of PEMF in affecting pain. [10]