Microcurrent electrical neuromuscular stimulator

Microcurrent electrical neuromuscular stimulator

A microcurrent electrical neuromuscular stimulator or MENS (also microamperage electrical neuromuscular stimulator) is a device used to send weak electrical signals into the body. Such devices apply extremely small (less than 1 milliampere) electrical currents to nerves using electrodes placed on the skin. One microampere is 1 millionth of an ampere and the uses of MENS are distinct from those of "TENS."

MENS uses include treatments for age-related macular degeneration, wound healing, tendon repair, and ruptured ligament recovery. Since most of the treatments concentrate on speeding healing and recovery, the largest current use is for professional athletes. It is also used as a cosmetic treatment.

The body's electrical capabilities were studied at least as early as 1830, when the Italian Carlo Matteucci is credited as being one of the first to measure the electrical current in injured tissue. Bioelectricity received less attention after the discovery of penicillin, when the focus of medical research and treatments turned toward the body's chemical processes. [1] Attention began to return to these properties and the possibilities of using very low current for healing in the mid 1900s. In a study published in 1969, for example, a team of researchers led by L.E. Wolcott applied micro-current to a wide variety of wounds, using negative polarity over the lesions in the initial phase, and then alternating positive and negative electrodes every three days. The stimulation ranged from 200-800uA and the treated group showed 200%-350% faster healing rates, with stronger tensile strength of scar tissue and antibacterial effects.[2] In 1991, the Germen scientists Dr. Erwin Neher and Dr. Bert Sakmann shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their development of the patch-clamp technique that allows the detection of minute electrical currents in cell membranes. This method allowed the detection of 20 to 40 types of ion channels that allow positive or negatively charged ions into and out of the cells and confirmed that electrical activity is not limited to nerve and muscle tissue.

A study by a neuroretinologist in the late 1980s suggested that microcurrent stimulation of acupuncture points for the eye had positive effects in slowing and even stopping progression of macular degeneration[citation needed]. This treatment is used to treat both the Wet and Dry forms of AMD. This study was based on Ngok Cheng's research on the increased amounts of ATP levels in living tissue after being stimulated with microcurrent.[3] Several similar studies are currently underway and other studies have shown there are benefits (with specific microcurrent polarities and frequencies) on the healing of tendon and bone.

While the mechanisms of efficacy are not well established, a few studies have shown that there may be a correlation between the traditional Chinese medical system of acupuncture and microcurrent. A study published in 1975 by Reichmanis, Marino, and Becker concluded in part that. “At most acupuncture points on most subjects, there were greater electrical conductance maxims than at control sites.” [4]

Many companies manufacture microcurrent devices for both professional and personal use and micorcurrent is in use as a "complementary" veterinary modality. [5]

See also

References

  1. ^ Robert O. Becker, M.D. and Gary Selden. The Body Electric: Electromagnetism And The Foundation of Life. pp. 17–21. 
  2. ^ Wolcott LE, Wheeler PC, Hardwicke HM and Rowley BA (1969). "Accelerated healing of skin ulcer by electrotherapy: preliminary clinical results". Southern Medical Journal (62(7)): 795–801. PMID 5306004. 
  3. ^ Cheng N, Van Hoof H, Bockx E, et al. (1982). "The effects of electric currents on ATP generation, protein synthesis, and membrane transport of rat skin". Clin. Orthop. Relat. Res. (171): 264–72. PMID 7140077. 
  4. ^ Reichmanis M, Marino AA and Becker RO (1975). "Electrical correlates of acupuncture points". IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering (Nov;22(6)): 533–5. PMID 1184029. 
  5. ^ Deborah Powell. MicroCurrent for Horses (and other vital therapies you should know). pp. 15–84. 


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