Electromagnetic Therapy: A Primer

Electromagnetic (EM) signals are increasingly used in both systemic and local medical applications. We attempt here to provide  an  outline  of  the  types  of  signals  currently  in  use.

This also necessitates a general introductory classification of EM signal types, based on how each signal varies in time.

Although EM medicine includes both diagnostic and ther-apeutic applications (Figure 34.1), the medical community is far more familiar with the former, especially with magnetic resonance  imaging  (MRI),  electromyography  (EMG),  electroencephalography (EEG), electrocardiography (EKG), and magnetocardiography (MKG).

There  are  historical  reasons  for  the  medical  unfamiliarity (even antipathy) with electromagnetically based therapies.

One has only to look at the beginnings of modern medicine in  the  United  States,  specifically  the  1910  Flexner  report1,2 that  provided  the  basis  for  medical  education  today.

Prior  to  this  report  there  was  widespread  use  of  electromagnetic  techniques  in  medicine,  often  little  more  than  late  nineteenth century versions of snake oil cures.

In great measure, the  present  aversion  to  electromagnetic  therapies  built  into  modern  medicine  is  a  direct  result  of  Victorian  age  quackery.

This  century-old  prejudice  has  carried  though  to  today  even  as  it  becomes  clearer  that  weak  (low  intensity)  magnetic fields exhibit physiological effects that must be considered  separately  from  those  caused  by  high  intensity  fields.

Although the effects related to exposures at large fields are, as a rule, readily explained by known physical interactions, usually  Faraday  induction  or  joule  heating,  the  weak-field  effects, often rather robust, remain mostly unexplained.

This has unfortunately opened the door for many electromagnetic nostrums of dubious value.A  few  of  the  examples  we  mention  below  illustrate  the  useful therapeutic delivery of heat by electromagnetic means.

The most interesting applications are, however, nonthermal.

Further,  we  exclude  from  our  discussion  treatments  that  involve signals directly applied to specific regions of the body by  subcutaneous  means,  such  as  pacemakers,  defibrillators,  deep  brain  stimulators  (DBS),  etc.

Unlike  electromagnetic  applications, which are mostly unexplained, these represent techniques for replacing or enhancing faulty existing physi-ological electrical stimulations.
(PDF) Electromagnetic Therapy: A Primer.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303911386_Electromagnetic_Therapy_A_Primer