The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Vol 71, Issue 3 411-417, Copyright © 1989 by Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Inc
Prevention of osteoporosis by pulsed electromagnetic fields
CT Rubin, KJ McLeod and LE Lanyon
Musculo-Skeletal Research Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedics, State University of New York, Stony Brook 11794.
Using an animal model, we examined the use of pulsed electromagnetic
fields, induced at a physiological frequency and intensity, to prevent the
osteoporosis that is concomitant with disuse. By protecting the left ulnae
of turkeys from functional loading, we noted a loss of bone of 13.0 per
cent compared with the intact contralateral control ulnae over an
eight-week experimental period. Using a treatment regimen of one hour per
day of pulsed electromagnetic fields, we observed an osteogenic
dose-response to induced electrical power, with a maximum osteogenic effect
between 0.01 and 0.04 tesla per second. Pulse power levels of more or less
than these levels were less effective. The maximum osteogenic response was
obtained by a decrease in the level of intracortical remodeling, inhibition
of endosteal resorption, and stimulation of both periosteal and endosteal
new-bone formation. These data suggest that short daily periods of exposure
to appropriate electromagnetic fields can beneficially influence the
behavior of the cell populations that are responsible for bone-remodeling,
and that there is an effective window of induced electrical power in which
bone mass can be controlled in the absence of mechanical loading.
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us 
Technorati What's this?
