Role of pulsed electromagnetic fields after joint replacements

Although the rate of patients reporting satisfaction is generally high after joint replacement surgery, up to 23% after total hip replacement and 34% after total knee arthroplasty of treated subjects report discomfort or pain 1 year after surgery. Moreover, chronic or subacute inflammation is reported in some cases even a long time after surgery. Another open and debated issue in prosthetic surgery is implant survivorship, especially when related to good prosthesis bone ingrowth. Pulsed Electro Magnetic Fields(PEMFs) treatment, although initially recommended after total joint replacement to promote bone ingrowth and to reduce inflammation and pain, is not currently part of usual clinical practice. The purpose of this review was to analyze existing literature on PEMFs effects in joint replacement surgery and to report results of clinical studies and current indications. We selected all currently available prospective studies or RCT on the use of PEMFs in total joint replacement with the purpose of investigating effects of PEMFs on recovery, pain relief and patients’ satisfaction following hip, knee or shoulder arthroplasty. All the studies analyzed reported no adverse effects, and good patient compliance to the treatment. The available literature shows that early control of joint inflammation process in the first days after surgery through the use of PEMFs should be considered an effective completion of the surgical procedure to improve the patient’s functional recovery.

Promotional effects of exogenous stimulation with pulsed electromagnetic fields on skin wound healing in diabetic rats

Objective:The current study aims to identify the effects of exogenous application of pulsed electromagnetic fields on skin wound healing in diabetic rats, and thus provides experimental evidence for its more scientific clinical application in the future.Methods: The diabetic animal models were established via intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin in 4-month-old male rats. Fourth eight rats were randomly assigned into the diabetes group (DM) and diabetes coupled with pulsed electromagnetic fields (DM+PEMF) group. Another 24 normal rats were used as the blank control group (Control). Then, all the rats in the three groups were subjected to dorsal surgery for the establishment of soft tissue wound model (circular wound with the diameter of 2 cm). Then, the rats in the DM+PEMF group were subjected to pulsed electromagnetic fields stimulation. Then, 6 rats in each group were sacrificed at Day 5, 12 and 19 post surgery. The glucose levels, wound closure, wound healing time and tissue tensile strength were examined and analyzed.Results: Pulsed electromagnetic fields significantly increased the wound closure rate in diabetic rats at Day 5, 12 and 19 post surgery, decreased overall wound healing period in diabetic rats, and also enhanced tissue tensile strength in diabetic rats at Day 5, 12 and 19 post surgery.Conclusion: Low-intensity pulsed electromagnetic fields can significantly accelerate diabetic wound healing process, and also improve diabetic tissue repair capacity. This study may be helpful for providing more scientific and reasonable experimental evidence for the treatment of pulsed electromagnetic fields on diabetic wound healing in clinics.

Low-frequency pulsed electromagnetic field pretreated bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells promote the regeneration of crush-injured rat mental nerve

Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells （BMSCs） have been shown to promote the regeneration of injured peripheral nerves. Pulsed electromagnetic field （PEMF） reportedly promotes the proliferation and neuronal differentiation of BMSCs. Low-frequency PEMF can induce the neuronal differentiation of BMSCs in the absence of nerve growth factors. This study was designed to investigate the effects of low-frequency PEMF pretreatment on the proliferation and function of BMSCs and the effects of low-frequency PEMF pre-treated BMSCs on the regeneration of injured peripheral nerve using in vitro and in vivo experiments.In in vitro experiments, quantitative DNA analysis was performed to determine the proliferation of BMSCs, and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction was performed to detect S100 （Schwann cell marker）, glial fibrillary acidic protein （astrocyte marker）, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor and nerve growth factor （neurotrophic factors） mRNA expression. In the in vivo experiments, rat models of crush-injured mental nerve established using clamp method were randomly injected with low-frequency PEMF pretreated BMSCs, unpretreated BMSCs or PBS at the injury site （1 × 106 cells）. DiI-labeled BMSCs injected at the injury site were counted under the fluorescence microscope to determine cell survival. One or two weeks after cell injection, functional recovery of the injured nerve was assessed using the sensory test with von Frey filaments. Two weeks after cell injection, axonal regeneration was evaluated using histomorphometric analysis and retrograde labeling of trigeminal ganglion neurons. In vitro experiment results revealed that low-frequency PEMF pretreated BMSCs proliferated faster and had greater mRNA expression of growth factors than unpretreated BMSCs. In vivo experiment results revealed that compared with injection of unpretreated BMSCs, injection of low-frequency PEMF pretreated BMSCs led to higher myelinated axon count and axon density and more DiI-labeled neurons in the trigeminal ganglia, contributing to rapider functional recovery of injured mental nerve. These findings suggest that low-frequency PEMF pretreatment is a promising approach to enhance the efficacy of cell therapy for peripheral nerve injury repair.

The Effects of High-intensity Pulsed Electromagnetic Field on Proliferation and Differentiation of Neural Stem Cells of Neonatal Rats in vitro

The effects of high-intensity pulsed electromagnetic stimulation （HIPEMS） on proliferation and differentiation of neonatal rat neural stem cells in vitro were investigated. Neural stem cells derived from neonatal rats were exposed to 0.1 Hz, 0.5–10 Tesla （T） [8 groups of B–I, respectively], 5 stimuli of HIPEMF. The sham exposure controls were correspondingly established. Inverted phase contrast microscope was used to observe the cultured cells, MTT assay to detect the viability of the cells as expressed by absorbance （A） value, and flow cytometry to measure differentiation of neural stem cells. The results showed that A values of neural stem cells in both 3.0 T and 4.0 T groups were significantly higher than the other groups 24 to 168 h post HPEMS, indicating a strong promotion of the growth of neural stem cells （P〈0.05）. The A values of neural stem cells in the 6.0 T, 8.0 T, and 10.0 T groups were lower than the sham exposure control group, indicating a restraint of the growth of neural stem cells. The rate of neuron-specific enolase-positive neurons revealed by flow cytometry in HPEMS groups was the same as that in control group （P〉0.05）. It was suggested that 0.1 Hz, 5 pulses stimulation of HPEMS within certain scale of intensity （0.5–10.0 T）, significantly promoted the growth of neural stem cells with the rational intensity being 4.0 T.

Effect of pulsed electromagnetic frequency on the microstructure, wear and solid erosion resistance of CrAlN coatings deposited by arc ion plating

In this work,the chromium aluminum nitride(CrAlN)coatings were prepared on TC11 titanium alloy by composite magnetic field cathodic arc ion plating with controllable pulse electromagnetic combined with permanent magnet.The effects of electromagnetic frequency on the morphology,microstructure,nano-hardness and elastic modulus of the coatings were investigated by scanning electron microscope(SEM),X-ray diffraction(XRD)and nano-indenter.This paper has mainly studied the influence of CrAlN coatings which are prepared at various electromagnetic frequencies on the wear and erosion resistance through a series of wear and solid particle erosion experiments.It was found that the deposition rate of CrAlN coatings increases with the increase of electromagnetic frequency.And CrAlN coatings all preferentially grew along the(111)crystal plane.At 16.7 Hz,with the increase of pulsed electromagnetic frequency,the hardness is the highest(23.6 GPa)and the adhesion is the highest(41.5 N).In addition,the coating deposition exhibited the best wear and solid erosion resistance at 16.7 Hz and 33.3 Hz,the friction coefficient is about 0.35,and the erosion rate is about 0.2μm/g at 30°and less than 1μm/g at 90°,respectively.These results indicate that the CrAlN coating formed at an appropriate pulsed electromagnetic frequency can achieve excellent mechanical properties,wear and solid erosion resistance.

Research on Strong Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Test Method by Time-frequency Combination

Many conventional methods of testing strong and pulsed electromagnetic fields,the ones used in radars for example,had deficiencies due to the difficulty in obtaining simultaneous information about the electromagnetic field's peak both in the time domain and in the frequency domain.With regard to this problem,after analyzing the time-domain and the frequency-domain characteristics of radar pulsed signals,we propose a new time-frequency combination test method based on the correction of the test parameters,as well as its correction method at different bandwidths.The test method is applied in a quick test of a high-power pulsed radar signal,and the corrected results have error less than 1 dB in both the time domain and the frequency domain,which indicates that the proposed time-frequency combined method is effective in testing strong and pulsed electromagnetic fields.

昼夜节律对PEMFs暴露小鼠血液流变学及红细胞脆性的影响

目的: 探讨昼夜节律对脉冲电磁场暴露小鼠血液流变学的影响.方法: 将30只雄性小鼠随机分为3组(n=10): 对照组、磁场A组和磁场B组.两磁场组饲养于强度为8×10-4 T的脉冲电磁场(pulsed electromagnetic fields,PEMFs)环境中(f=15 Hz),暴磁时间均为6 h/d(磁场A组为白天10∶00～16∶00,磁场B组为夜间22∶00～4∶00).对照组饲养于线圈中,但不暴磁.10 d后统一摘右眼取血,对血液流变学指标及红细胞脆性进行测定.结果: 磁场组与对照组比较,血液流变学特性以及红细胞脆性的差异均有统计学意义(P<0.05);两磁场组(A,B)之间比较,血液流变学各指标和开始溶血NaCl溶液浓度的差异具有显著性意义(P<0.05),而完全溶血的浓度差异不明显(P>0.05).结论: PEMFs可以改善小鼠血液流变特性,降低红细胞脆性,白天暴磁效果优于夜间,提示昼夜节律对其生物效应有影响.

Role of Electromagnetic Stimulation in the Treatment of Osteonecrosis of the Femoral Head in Early Stages

Osteonecrosis of the femoral head is a disorder that leads to collapse and osteoarthritis in young patients. This study examines the effectiveness of pulsed electromagnetic fields [PEMF] in the treatment of osteonecrosis of the head in precollapse bone stages. A retrospective evaluation was done of 51 patients including 70 hips with symptomatic osteonecrosis of the hip treated with pulsed electromagnetic fields. Criteria for inclusion in the study group were evidence of osteonecrosis and absence of collapse of the femoral head. The average follow-up was 26 months (range, 18 - 90). Etiologies included idiopathic (40 cases), steroid use (26) and alcohol (4). To demonstrate the existence of osteonecrosis and its evolution, magnetic resonance imaging [MRI] and plain radiography techniques were used. Results: Procedures were radiological success in 80% of cases, and no progression to collapse in 88.57% of hips. Eight of the 70 hips had radiographic progression to collapse. This study suggests that selected PEMF reduce the incidence of progression of osteonecrosis of femoral head in early stage.

The pulsed high magnetic field facility and scientific research at Wuhan National High Magnetic Field Center

Wuhan National High Magnetic Field Center(WHMFC)at Huazhong University of Science and Technology is one of the top-class research centers in the world,which can offer pulsed fields up to 90.6 T with different field waveforms for scientific research and has passed the final evaluation of the Chinese government in 2014.This paper will give a brief introduction of the facility and the development status of pulsed magnetic fields research at WHMFC.In addition,it will describe the application development of pulsed magnetic fields in both scientific and industrial research.

Inverse problem of pulsed eddy current field of ferromagnetic plates

To determine the wall thickness, conductivity and permeability of a ferromagnetic plate, an inverse problem is established with measured values and calculated values of time-domain induced voltage in pulsed eddy current testing on the plate. From time-domain analytical expressions of the partial derivatives of induced voltage with respect to parameters,it is deduced that the partial derivatives are approximately linearly dependent. Then the constraints of these parameters are obtained by solving a partial linear differential equation. It is indicated that only the product of conductivity and wall thickness, and the product of relative permeability and wall thickness can be determined accurately through the inverse problem with time-domain induced voltage. In the practical testing, supposing the conductivity of the ferromagnetic plate under test is a fixed value, and then the relative variation of wall thickness between two testing points can be calculated via the ratio of the corresponding inversion results of the product of conductivity and wall thickness. Finally, this method for wall thickness measurement is verified by the experiment results of a carbon steel plate.

Cytogenetic Effects of Pulsing Electromagnetic Field on Domestic Pig Lymphocytes in Vitro

The effects of pulsing electromagnetic fields(PEMFs)on cells are very important subjects in the field of bioelectromagnetics.In this experiment,the cytogenetic effects of PEMF on domestic pig lymphocytes were tested in vitro.Pig lymphocytes in RPMI 1640 medium were exposed to PEMFs of 100 kHz and 200 kHz for 12,24 and 48 hours.Chromosomal aberrations(aneuploidy,breaks,gaps,et al)were significantly increased in exposed cultures,and of these aberrations,56%chromosomal or chromatid breaks and 42%gaps induced by PEMFs were the points of pig chromosomal fragile sites.The baseline frequency of sister chromatid exchange(SCE)increased after exposing lymphocytes continuously to PEMFs of 100 kHz and 200 kHz for 48 hours.These results suggested that the exposure to PEMFs might induce a type of DNA lesion and chromosomal aberrations.

Microstructure Refinement of Al-5Ti-B Grain Refiner with Electromagnetic Energy

The influence of the electromagnetic energy on the microstructure of Al-5Ti-B grain reflner was discussed.In this study,the electromagnetic energy was applied above the liquid phase line temperature.Compared with Al-5Ti-B without electromagnetic energy applied,the experimental results show that the size of secondary particles is reduced and its size distribution becomes more uniform.Simultaneously,the secondary phase particles are uniformly spread in the matrix response to the electromagnetic energy.Moreover,when adding Al-5Ti-B with electromagnetic energy to the pure aluminum melt,it is clear that the electromagnetic energy has a signiflcantly impact on reflning properties of Al-5Ti-B.The mean size of pure aluminum is reduced by 27.6%in maximum with more uniform size distribution.The change in the microstructure is attributed to the electromagnetic energy changes the melt structure.With the electromagnetic energy entry into the system,the electromagnetic energy reduces the size of atomic clusters and increases the number of atomic clusters,thus the number of nuclei increases.

Non-Monochromatic Electromagnetic Radiation of Inhomogeneous Media

A coordinated physicomathematical model for the propagation of a soliton-like electromagnetic pulse in a heterogeneous medium is developed in the presence of strong discontinuities in the electromagnetic field. The model is based on the reduction of Maxwell’s equations to the well-studied wave equation. When the electromagnetic pulse was specified, its amplitude modulation was taken into account, as was the nonstationary broadening of the spectral line. Conditions for matching the momentum for the first initial boundary-value problem are obtained. The time dispersion of the electrical induction is taken into account in terms of the function of signal conditioning which takes account of the broadening of its spectral line and integration over the continuous spectrum. With this approach, it is not necessary to neglect spatial derivatives, and also to use spatial nonlocal relations to take account of the effect of surface charge, surface current, and spatial dispersion of electrical induction at the interfaces of adjacent media.

High-precision chaotic radial basis function neural network model:Data forecasting for the Earth electromagnetic signal before a strong earthquake

The Earth’s natural pulse electromagnetic field data consists typically of an underlying variation tendency of intensity and irregularities.The change tendency may be related to the occurrence of earthquake disasters.Forecasting of the underlying intensity trend plays an important role in the analysis of data and disaster monitoring.Combining chaos theory and the radial basis function neural network,this paper proposes a forecasting model of the chaotic radial basis function neural network to conduct underlying intensity trend forecasting by the Earth’s natural pulse electromagnetic field signal.The main strategy of this forecasting model is to obtain parameters as the basis for optimizing the radial basis function neural network and to forecast the reconstructed Earth’s natural pulse electromagnetic field data.In verification experiments,we employ the 3 and 6 days’data of two channels as training samples to forecast the 14 and 21-day Earth’s natural pulse electromagnetic field data respectively.According to the forecasting results and absolute error results,the chaotic radial basis function forecasting model can fit the fluctuation trend of the actual signal strength,effectively reduce the forecasting error compared with the traditional radial basis function model.Hence,this network may be useful for studying the characteristics of the Earth’s natural pulse electromagnetic field signal before a strong earthquake and we hope it can contribute to the electromagnetic anomaly monitoring before the earthquake.

Clinical efficacy of electromagnetic field therapy combined with traditional Chinese pain-reducing paste in myofascial pain syndrome

BACKGROUND Pulsed electromagnetic field(PEMF)therapy is widely used to treat myofascial pain syndrome(MPS).Damp-clearing and pain-reducing paste(DPP)comprises medical herbs and has been a traditional method of reducing myofascial pain in China for a long time,and it is usually administered with heating.However,the synergistic effect of PEMF therapy on heating-DPP in patients with MPS is unclear.AIM To investigate the synergistic effect of PEMF therapy plus heating-DPP in lumbar MPS.METHODS This double-blind,randomized,placebo-controlled trial was conducted on 120 patients with lumbar MPS who were randomly divided into an experimental group(EG,n=60)and a control group(CG,n=60).Patients in both groups were treated with heating-DPP combined with PEMF therapy;however,the electromagnetic function of the therapeutic apparatus used in the CG was disabled.Each treatment lasted for 20 min and was applied five times a week for two weeks.The short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire was applied at five time points:pretest,end of the first and second weeks of treatment,and end of the first and fourth week after completing treatment.Visual analog scale(VAS),present pain intensity index(PPI),and pain rating index(PRI;total,affective pain,and sensory pain scores)scores were then analyzed.RESULTS Compared with the CG,the VAS,PPI and PRI scores(total,affective pain and sensory pain scores)in the EG were significantly lower after treatment and during follow-up.CONCLUSION PEMF therapy combined with heating-DPP showed better efficacy than heating-DPP alone in reducing the overall intensity of pain and sensory and affective pain.

A Pulsed Electromagnet for Laser Wakefield Electron Acceleration Experiments

Laser Wakefield plasma acceleration of electrons to energies above 10 GeV, may be possible in the new high power Laser beam facilities. The design of an Electron Spectrometer with an electro-magnet with adjustable magnetic field is proposed for the characterization of electron energy spectrum with a precision better than 10% for the entire energy range from 0.5 GeV to 38 GeV. The expected precision in the measurement of the electron energy is calculated as a function of the magnetic field, of the electron energy and of the magnet length. To outline the advantages offered by a pulsed electromagnet with high magnetic fields, the mass and the electric power lost in the coils of a 4 m long electromagnet with continuous current and Iron yoke are calculated.

电磁脉冲电场测量技术研究综述

宽频带大动态范围的脉冲电场测量是电磁脉冲效应、防护以及电磁兼容等相关领域的一项共性基础技术,在过去50年以来受到研究人员的广泛关注,并发展出不同手段的测量技术。无源微分(D-dot)测量传感器带宽相对较高,但尺寸较大、集成度低;有源光纤测量系统最大测量带宽约为1 GHz,尺寸相对较小、集成度高、实用性强。集成光学传感器作为一种带宽宽、体积小的无源传感器,各国均有研究。本文主要回顾上述几种脉冲电场测量技术近期研究进展,并结合发展现状分析脉冲电场测量技术存在的挑战和未来可能的研究方向,为相关领域研究人员提供参考。

脉冲负载直流传输方案研究及验证

针对脉冲负载的直流供电线缆周围电磁场、谐振和谐波干扰、电力系统层面稳定性等问题,分别对电缆的不同排布方式,聚焦电磁场、磁力场、电热耦合分析,进行了一系列研究并提出了解决方案,降低了脉冲负载对电缆自身和周围环境的影响,确保了舰船电力系统的稳定可靠运行。

脉冲磁场幅值对制备聚硅氧烷复合材料的电磁屏蔽性能影响规律

脉冲磁场已被证实通过诱导纳米粒子在基体中取向排列可以显著提高复合材料的电磁屏蔽性能,然而脉冲磁场幅值对复合材料电磁屏蔽性能的影响规律尚不明确。因此,采用脉宽为10μs、频率为50Hz的脉冲磁场诱导片状羰基铁(flaky carbonyl iron,FCI)在聚二甲基硅氧烷(polydimethylsiloxane,PDMS)中定向排列,研究磁场幅值(0~0.7T)对复合材料电磁屏蔽性能的影响规律。用扫描电子显微镜(scanning electron microscope,SEM)和X射线衍射(X-ray diffraction,XRD)对纳米粒子的取向和排列进行了表征。结果表明,脉冲磁场可以有效控制羰基铁的取向和排列,形成导电网络结构,提高复合材料的导电性,最终显著提高取向复合材料的电磁屏蔽性能。脉冲磁场对复合材料的屏蔽效能增强效果可达27%,达到的最高屏蔽效率为15.36dB。理论分析和实验结果的一致性证实了微秒级脉冲磁场在改善复合材料电磁屏蔽性能方面的有效性。该研究制备的高性能柔性电磁屏蔽复合材料具有应用于先进电子设备的潜力。

基于多场耦合求解的大规格镁合金扁锭差相脉冲电磁半连续铸造

本文以大规格镁合金扁锭半连续铸造为研究对象,采用基于多场耦合的数值模拟技术模拟了差相脉冲磁场作用下镁合金扁锭半连续铸造过程中的宏观物理场,研究了差相脉冲磁场相位差对电磁力、温度场、凝固过程、溶质元素分布及宏观偏析的影响。结果表明:相位差对凝固中后期影响更明显。当相位差从0°增至72°时,凝固初期换热有所减弱;而凝固中后期换热增强,液穴深度明显变浅,中心部位凝固速度加快,横截面内温度场变均匀。此外,适当提高相位差至72°有利于缓解两相区内贫溶质的问题,减少凝固后横截面内最大负偏析率和整体偏析率;相位差继续增大到108°不仅明显削弱了凝固前期的换热强度,而且还会削弱凝固中后期的换热强度,使液穴变深,凝固速度减慢,偏析率增大。