PEMF Therapy: The Future of Non-Invasive Healing

Abby Yium | UTS Features (2024-2025)

StudentUnder the Scope
··6 min read

Have you ever broken a bone and wondered how it heals over time? Our bodies are designed to recover as fast as possible after an injury in a process called cellular regeneration. Our bones are made up of collagen, protein, and minerals. Collagen and protein make up most of a bone’s mass and volume, while minerals like calcium and vitamin D provide strength. Cartilage, tendons, and ligaments surround each bone, offering protection and aid in movement. After a bone suffers a break or a fracture, stem cells help repair the injury. Stem cells are a special type of cell that can change or develop into different kinds of cells, a process known as differentiation. Depending on the size and seriousness of the break or fracture, stem cells develop into either bone-forming cells, osteoblasts, during small breaks or cartilage cells, fibroblasts, during big breaks. The cartilage cells further develop into bone cells, thus reforming the bone.

Bone regeneration is a multi-step process that begins with two different types of phases: anabolic and catabolic. Anabolic metabolic processes are constructive and require energy, while catabolic metabolic processes are deconstructive and release energy. In regeneration, first, the anabolic process moves stem cells to the fractured area and initial bone development. Then, a catabolic process occurs to rebuild the cartilage around the bone.

The subsequent process is divided into four major stages: hematoma formation, chondrogenesis, callus formation, and bone remodeling. After the catabolic process of beginning to rebuild the cartilage, the hematoma formation takes place. Our bones are filled with blood vessels. After a significant break, usually from an injury, blood pools outside the vessels. Hematomas form at the fracture site and create the initial frame of healing. Approximately two weeks after the fracture, platelets rush to the injury site and an inflammatory reaction is produced. This triggers chondrogenesis, a vital process in cartilage formation surrounding the bone. Cartilage provides a map for the new bone to grow and cushion around the bone, ensuring the correct structure and strength for overall bone health and stability. Bony callus formation, the third stage in bone regeneration, begins only if the two ends of the broken bone are no longer attached. This step involves different types of cells like collagen-forming fibroblasts, bone-synthesizing osteoblasts, and bone-cleaving osteoclasts. Located in the connective tissue, fibroblasts heal the fracture by producing collagen and fibers. This increases the total amount of calcium, allowing the formation of the bony callus, or immature bone. Bone remodeling continues for months or years after the fracture, until the two ends of the bone are bridged back together. The callus is constantly remodeled using a cycle of osteoclasts and osteoblasts. This bone formation is furthered by the presence of natural electrical charges, or currents within the bones. Although this is a naturally occurring process, researchers have found a way to artificially stimulate bone formation.

Pulsed Electromagnetic Field therapy, or PEMF therapy, is one such artificial simulant. Electromagnetic fields are invisible electric and magnetic fields that can exist naturally or artificially on Earth. They hide in our everyday lives, such as radio frequencies or power lines. The first modern PEMF machine was created in the 1930s using a vacuum tube-based diathermy machine to deliver heat into the tissue, in which electric currents flow from coils to layers of skin beneath the surface, to generate blood flow and reduce inflammation. A new machine was then made in the 1990s, which focused on healing soft tissue rather than direct bone. Today, PEMF therapy implements an active electromagnetic waveform to treat the tissue of the affected area of injury. A healing response at the cellular level in the tissue or cartilage is triggered by the use of PEMF therapy. Currents are manipulated manually to pass through the bone using electrical stimulation, resulting in lowered oxygen levels and increased pH levels. These factors increase the total osteoblast levels, causing the callus to form faster, and thus, the bone heals quicker.

PEMF therapy has been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration in two categories: bone growth stimulators and shortwave diathermy devices. Different pulses and frequencies can be used to demonstrate treatment efficacy. For example, results from using PEMF therapy have also been observed within the field of oncology. A clinical study by Alexandre Barbault and his team at the Cabinet Médical in Switzerland revealed the possibility of a relationship between low-level electromagnetic fields and decreased tumor cell growth. Barbault concluded that there were 1524 different frequencies possible in the treatment of tumors, each specific to the type and aggression of the cancer. 41 patients in the trial self-administered PEMF for sixty minutes, three times a day for a variety of advanced tumors, including brain, pancreatic, breast, and prostate. No adverse reactions were reported or observed during the treatment. Many patients reported a decrease or absence of pain, with 16 patients reporting a stable disease after 12 weeks, supporting the conclusion that PEMF can delay cancer progression with tumor-specific electromagnetic fields.

PEMF in Veterinary Medicine can also be used within the veterinary medical field as a promoter in healing various injuries or chronic pain in animals. In a clinical study on PEMF therapy as pain relief for dogs with osteoarthritis, a type of arthritis that affects the joint tissue, dogs were divided into two groups: one treated with PEMF and the other with firocoxib, an anti-inflammatory drug for pain relief. Both groups showed decreased signs of osteoarthritis, but the PEMF group also showed sustained relief and improved quality of life, rather than returning to the baseline after the study ended.

PEMF therapy is a relatively new scientific process, and while there isn’t a great deal of published research on it yet, the results of existing studies trend upward. The expansion of this technology promotes healing for a variety of injuries including fractures, breaks, wounds, etc. As a non-invasive way of treating injury, PEMF therapy has risen in popularity in both the human and animal medical fields. In order to continue developing new and innovative methods of treatment, we first must understand bone regeneration at a cellular level. Our cells are the basis of our being, and the processes that occur within our body provide the foundation for the future of healing.

References: