Potent Stimulation of Blood Flow in Fingers of Volunteers after Local Short‐Term Treatment with Low‐Frequency Magnetic Fields from a Novel Device

Abstract

A novel hand-held low-frequency magnetic stimulator (MagCell-SR) was tested for its ability to stimulate microcirculation in fingers of healthy volunteers. Blood flow during and after 5 minutes exposure was quantified using Laser Doppler Perfusion Imaging Technique. The device was positioned between the wrist and the dorsal part of the backhand. Because the increase in blood flow could be caused by a release of nitric oxide (NO) from the vascular endothelial cells we tested NO production with a fluorescence marker and quantified the measurements in cell cultures of human umbilical endothelial cells (HUVEC). Exposure increased blood flow significantly, persisted several minutes, and then disappeared gradually. In order to assess the effect of a static magnetic field, the measurements were also carried out with the device shutoff. Here, only a small increase in blood flow was noted. The application of the rotating MagCell-SR to the HUVEC cultures leads to a rapid onset and a significant increase of NO release after 15 minutes. Thus, frequencies between 4 and 12 Hz supplied by the device improve microcirculation significantly. Therefore, this device can be used in all clinical situations where an improvement of the microcirculation is useful like in chronic wound healing deficits.

Magnetic field therapy in patients with cytostatics‐induced polyneuropathy: A prospective randomized placebo‐controlled phase‐III study

“…However, since the device uses rotating permanent magnets to generate a temporally varying magnetic field, the magnetic vector itself could possibly contribute to the therapeutic effect. This question was addressed in a study conducted at the Institute of Anatomy, Technical University of Dresden [Funk et al, ], where stimulation of blood flow in fingers of volunteers by the MAGCELL was investigated. A strong effect was observed after a single local treatment, leading to 37% increase in blood flow above the control figures ( P < 0.001).…”

Does electromagnetic therapy meet an equivalent counterpart within the organism?

“…Here, the activation of the vasodilatative component of NO may be of significance [61]. Indeed, our group could also show a direct increase in NO produced by endothelial cells in an in vitro study [59].…”

“…Activation of the vasodilatative nitrogen oxide (NO) may be of significance, too [61]. Indeed, our group could also show a direct increase in NOs produced by endothelial cells in an in vitro study [59]. The aforementioned impact mechanisms combined with increased blood circulation and the signal cascade of NO might be an important strand of the PEMF effect.…”

“…They propose an electrically sensitive membrane-embedded receptor complex, such as VSP, which transduces the signal to 1-25 Hz Ca2+ pulses. With regard to the release of NO a strong boost in blood circulation was evidenced [59,60]. Here, the activation of the vasodilatative component of NO may be of significance [61].…”

“…In situations like diabetic peripheral neuropathy the literature shows that in the PEMF area many clinical observations exist, [59,63,64]; whereas the literature is very inconsistent for in vitro studies on neuronal cells as well as for studies with molecular-and cell biological background [65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72]. On the other hand, a profound understanding of the ongoing processes, especially of potential neuroprotective effects -see also such EF effects in patients of retinal degeneration would be very useful e.g.…”