| The
following Becker RO research bibliography spans much of his electromedical
work during the past 37 years. 1: NeuroRehabilitation 2002;17(1):23-31 |
Becker RO.
Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Upstate Medical Center, State University of New York, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA.
Induction of local tissue regeneration in the human would best be accomplished if the patient's own cells at the desired site could be caused to dedifferentiate into the required embryonic stem cells. A system involving the electrical iontophoretic introduction of free silver ions into human wounds for their antibiotic effect has been in clinical use since 1975. In addition to a major antibiotic effect, the technique was found to produce the regeneration of all local tissues, apparently by stimulating dedifferentiation of mature human cells. More recently the use of a newly developed silvered nylon fabric has been found to have similar results without the need for electrical parameters. The results of a preliminary laboratory and clinical study of this material are presented.
PMID: 12016344 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 2: Acupunct Electrother Res 1987;12(1):75-9 | Related Articles, Links |
Becker RO.
Publication Types:
PMID: 2883840 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 3: Clin Orthop 1981 Nov-Dec;(161):336-9 | Related Articles, Links |
Becker RO, Esper C.
PMID: 7198021 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 4: Clin Orthop 1981 Nov-Dec;(161):105-14 | Related Articles, Links |
Webster DA, Spadaro JA, Becker RO, Kramer S.
Twenty-five patients with active, chronic osteomyelitis, resistant to conventional management, were treated with surgical debridement and daily application of electrically activated silver dressings. Sixteen (64%) cases resulted in closed, stable, pain-free wounds, with the remainder resulting in persistent drainage or amputation. Nine of 12 cases complicated by nonunion achieved union. In 13 patients an open-bone graft was performed and silver treatment continued: these tended to remain free of purulent drainage but fared no better than average in the long-term follow-up. The silver anode dressing seems to be an effective aid in the treatment of chronic bone infection when combined with adequate surgical debridement, thereby reducing the need for prolonged systemic antibiotics.
PMID: 6975686 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 5: Health Phys 1981 Aug;41(2):267-77 | Related Articles, Links |
Perry FS, Reichmanis M, Marino AA, Becker RO.
PMID: 7275611 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 6: Am J Physiol 1980 Nov;239(5):R424-7 | Related Articles, Links |
Marino AA, Cullen JM, Reichmanis M, Becker RO, Hart FX.
The action of a 60-Hz, 5 kV/m electric field on erythrocyte parameters in mice was determined. No effects attributable to the magnitude of the field were found, but a transition either from or to an environment containing the field caused decreased red blood cell concentrations and decreased hematocrits. The failure of others to observe effects on erythrocyte parameters following exposure to low-frequency electric fields may have been due to an inappropriate choice of duration of exposure.
PMID: 7435656 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 7: Calcif Tissue Int 1980;31(3):257-9 | Related Articles, Links |
Marino AA, Spadaro JA, Fukada E, Kahn LD, Becker RO.
Tissue collagen exhibits several levels of structural organization, and this complicates efforts to determine the origin of its piezoelectricity. We made collagen films-by evaporation and electrodeposition from solution-and examined the relation between collagen's piezoelectricity and its electron microscopic appearance. We found that the electrodeposited films were more organized and exhibited higher piezoelectric coefficients than the evaporated films. Despite this, the evaporated films were piezoelectric, thereby suggesting that the effect originates either at the level of the tropocollagen molecule or, at most, with aggregated structures no larger than 50 A in diameter.
PMID: 6781732 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 8: Med Biol Eng Comput 1979 Nov;17(6):769-75 | Related Articles, Links |
Spadaro JA, Becker RO.
PMID: 317920 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 9: Clin Orthop 1979 Nov-Dec;(145):239-44 | Related Articles, Links |
Marino AA, Cullen JM, Reichmanis M, Becker RO.
Fibular osteotomies in rats were exposed to an extremely low frequency field for 14 days. By histologic evaluation it was found that the healing rate was retarded by the field. The effect (which was replicated) occurred at much lower power levels than are presently employed in electircal osteogenesis.
PMID: 317035 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 10: Clin Orthop 1979 Sep;(143):266-70 | Related Articles, Links |
Spadaro JA, Webster DA, Becker RO.
An improved antibacterial bone cement was sought based on the addition of low concentrations of inorganic silver compounds to polymethyl methacrylate. Composites with AgCl, Ag-AgCl, Ag2O, Ag2SO4 and Ag3PO4 in concentrations of 0.05% to 1% by weight, were tested in vitro against bacterial cultures. All were effective, but Ag2SO4 was especially so, even after 7 weeks of incubation in normal saline. Compressive strength of the cement was not affected by these additions, except in the case of Ag2O. Biocompabibility tests in rabbit muscle for up to 12 weeks showed no significant difference between the Ag -PMM and plain PMM in tissue reactivity, both being minimal. These features, coupled with the broad spectrum of antibacterial activity and low allergic potential of silver, make Ag-PMM an attractive alternative to conventional organic antibiotic/bone cement composites.
PMID: 509832 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 11: Clin Orthop 1979 Jun;(141):266-74 | Related Articles, Links |
Becker RO.
The present technique of electrical osteogenesis represents the rediscovery of a method in clinical use over 100 years ago. That technique while reported to have excellent clinical results, was empirically applied and was totally discredited as having no scientific basis. Modern techniques report similarly useful clinical results, but similarly lack an accepted scientific basis. The techniques in present use differ so greatly among themselves that a common mechanism of action seems highly unlikely. Yet all report excellent clinical results. Serious questions are raised concerning the validity of the claims, the mechanism of action and the possibility of long-term undesirable side effects. These questions are not insoluble and the newer physical science disciplines seem well suited to reveal the mechanism of action. Appropriate research projects must be mounted and answers to these questions obtained before the technique is made available for wide application. The importance of this procedure far transcends orthopedic surgery and bone growth stimulation and if properly pursued, it may lead to revolutionary changes, not only in basic biology, but in the practice of clinical medicine in general.
PMID: 314373 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 12: Aviat Space Environ Med 1979 Apr;50(4):409-10 | Related Articles, Links |
Marino AA, Becker RO, Hart FX, Anders F Jr.
Loss of body calcium during spaceflight is a potential problem in long voyages. This loss does not appear to be caused by a deficiency in diet or exercise. The idea is advanced that the altered electromagnetic environment experienced in space may be at least partially responsible. We show that the electric field induced inside astronauts because of their motion in the geomagnetic field is greater than that which has produced a wide variety of biological effects in earth-bound experiments.
PMID: 464968 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 13: Physiol Chem Phys 1979;11(5):395-403 | Related Articles, Links |
Reichmanis M, Perry FS, Marino AA, Becker RO.
Laboratory studies have shown that electromagnetic fields similar to those from high-voltage transmission lines can produce biological effects. Surveys of the actual effects of such lines on exposed individuals usually have been hampered by complicating factors tending to blur the data. By means of a new approach, however, correlation has been established between the presence of transmission-line fields and the occurrence of suicides in part of the Midlands of England.
PMID: 542502 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 14: Am J Chin Med 1979 Summer;7(2):188-93 | Related Articles, Links |
Reichmanis M, Marino AA, Becker RO.
The AC impedance of a length of the H meridian not containing any acupuncture points was studied by means of Laplace plane analysis of the time domain response to an input voltage pulse. The ensuing frequency domain data were compared to the results of an identical analysis for two anatomically similar controls on either side of the meridian. The resistance of the meridian was significantly lower than either control.
PMID: 484540 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 15: Calcif Tissue Res 1978 Dec 8;26(2):93-7 | Related Articles, Links |
Becker RO.
Publication Types:
PMID: 367538 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 16: J Bone Joint Surg Am 1978 Oct;60(7):871-81 | Related Articles, Links |
Becker RO, Spadaro JA.
Electrically generated silver ions have been shown previously to be a potent antibacterial agent with an exceptionally broad spectrum as indicated by in vitro testing. The present study reports on clinical experience using electrically generated silver ions as adjunctive treatment in the management of chronic osteomyelitis. Fourteen patients had fifteen treatment attempts: thirteen for chronic osteomyelitis of the tibia, one for acute and chronic pyarthrosis and osteomyelitis of the knee, and one for a chronically draining sinus after total hip replacement. Wound debridement, silver ion iontophoresis, and subsequent wound care (usually provided by the patient) resulted in control of the infection in twelve of the fifteen treatment attempts and in healing of the non-union after follow-up ranging from three to thirty-six months. The other three attempts led to two partial and one complete failure.
PMID: 701335 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 17: Comp Med East West 1978 Spring;6(1):67-73 | Related Articles, Links |
Reichmanis M, Becker RO.
Recent studies reporting significant physiological effects associated with electrical and manual stimulation at several traditional Chinese acupuncture loci are reviewed. Other reports on the anatomy and electrical properties (DC resistance and potential, AC impedance) of these sites indicate that many are significant local skin resistance minima and may also be points of locally more positive DC potential. Further investigation of the basic properties of the acupuncture system and its mode of action is fully warranted by these preliminary findings.
PMID: 710080 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 18: Physiol Chem Phys 1978;10(1):79-85 | Related Articles, Links |
Mitchell JT, Marino AA, Berger TJ, Becker RO.
An effect of electrostatic fields on the chromosomes of Ehrlich ascites tumor cells exposed in vivo has been demonstrated. Cells exposed to horizontal electrostatic fields for two weeks had almost a threefold increase in the percentage of abnormal chromosomes when compared to control cells or cells exposed to vertical electrostatic fields for the same period. Extended exposure times of 4--15 weeks resulted in the disappearance of the aberrant chromosomes. It is suggested that the effected cells were incapable of cellular replication resulting eventually in their disappearance via cell death.
PMID: 569338 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 19: Cornell Vet 1978 Jan;68(1):51-9 | Related Articles, Links |
Dueland R, Hoffer RE, Seleen WA, Becker RO.
Bilateral third degree burns were created on the flanks of eight miniature swine. Each animal had one side treated daily with low intensity direct (LIDC) of 400 microamperes (muA) by contact electrode for 2 hours morning and afternoon until healing occurred. The polarity of the electrode was negative in 4 pigs and positive in 4 pigs. One group of 4 pigs had the eschar surgically removed 24 hours post burn. Weekly biopsies and cultures were taken of treated and control wounds. Results indicated: local treatment of 400 muA LIDC did not hasten or delay healing of thermal third degree burns; escharectomy hastened wound healing by 10 days, and superficial proteus infection occurred in 80% of all wounds.
PMID: 303976 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 20: Med Res Eng 1977 Nov;12(5):6-9 | Related Articles, Links |
Marino AA, Becker RO.
Publication Types:
PMID: 349303 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 21: IEEE Trans Biomed Eng 1977 Jul;24(4):402-5 | Related Articles, Links |
Reichmanis M, Marino AA, Becker RO.
PMID: 881215 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 22: Clin Orthop 1977 May;(124):75-83 | Related Articles, Links |
Becker RO, Spadaro JA, Marino AA.
Low intensity direct current stimulation of bone growth involves the continuous application of cathodic currents in the nanoampere range. The technique has been applied to 13 patients with a variety of non-unions and pseudarthroses with a success rate of 77 per cent. Preliminary data indicate that a range of total energy, from 0.6 to 2.5 Joules, is maximally effective. The technique has been combined with anodic control of local bacterial infection with promising results. Both the osteogenic stimulation and the bacterial suppression techniques as described in this paper, appear to be safe and effective.
PMID: 304404 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 23: Clin Orthop 1977 Mar-Apr;(123):280-2 | Related Articles, Links |
Marino AA, Becker RO.
Publication Types:
PMID: 852183 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 24: Physiol Chem Phys 1977;9(4-5):433-41 | Related Articles, Links |
Marino AA, Berger TJ, Austin BP, Becker RO, Hart FX.
One hundred seventy-four 21- to 24-day-old Sprague-Dawley rats were continuously exposed to a 60 Hz electric field of 150 V/cm for one month in ten separate experiments. Biological effects observed included depressed body weights, serum corticoids, and water consumption. The findings are tentatively in terpreted as indicating that a power frequency electric field is a biological stressor. The observed effects cannot be a consequence of Joule heating and therefore indicate that electric fields can influence biological systems either at the systemic level, or at the cellular level via electrochemical alteration of the microenvironment.
PMID: 613333 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 25: Comp Med East West 1977 Fall-Winter;5(3-4):289-95 | Related Articles, Links |
Reichmanis M, Marino AA, Becker RO.
The frequency dependence of the skin impedance between two acupuncture points (H-3 and H-4) was determined by Laplace plane analysis of the time domain response to an input voltage perturbation. Both the resistance and capacitance between the acupuncture points differed significantly from the corresponding controls, thus supporting the interpretation of the acupuncture system as an information transfer network.
PMID: 610979 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 26: Comp Med East West 1977 Fall-Winter;5(3-4):281-8 | Related Articles, Links |
Reichmanis M, Becker RO.
PMID: 610978 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 27: Physiol Chem Phys 1977;9(2):131-47 | Related Articles, Links |
Marino AA, Becker RO.
PMID: 414240 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 28: Antimicrob Agents Chemother 1976 Nov;10(5):856-60 | Related Articles, Links |
Berger TJ, Spadaro JA, Bierman R, Chapin SE, Becker RO.
PMID: 1034467 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 29: Biophys J 1976 Jul;16(7):845-6 | Related Articles, Links |
Fuller RG, Marino AA, Becker RO.
Ultraviolet light can be used to stimulate electrical current flow in bone and tendon. This stimulated photocurrent is directional. In tendon the photocurrent parallel to the fibrils is greater than the photocurrent perpendicular to the fibrils. In bone, the longitudinal photocurrent is less than the transverse photocurrent.
PMID: 938723 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 30: Experientia 1976 May 15;32(5):565-6 | Related Articles, Links |
Marino AA, Becker RO, Ullrich B.
Mice were allowed to mate, gestate, deliver and rear their offspring for 3 successive generations while being continuously exposed to 60 Hz electric fields. Mice exposed to vertical electric fields exhibited decreased body weights at 35 days postpartum and increased mortality rates for 3 successive generations. Mice exposed to horizontal electric fields exhibited decreased body weights for 2 successive generations.
PMID: 1278293 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 31: Antimicrob Agents Chemother 1976 Feb;9(2):357-8 | Related Articles, Links |
Berger TJ, Spadaro JA, Chapin SE, Becker RO.
PMID: 944551 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 32: Am J Chin Med 1976 Spring;4(1):69-72 | Related Articles, Links |
Reichmanis M, Marino AA, Becker RO.
Skin conductance was measured in 10 subjects with a DC Wheatstone bridge in 10 areas purportedly containing acupuncture loci on the Triple Burner (TB) and Lung (Lu) meridians. When the results were compared to those from anatomically similar locations devoid of acupuncture loci, local conductance variation was found to be significantly different (p less than 0.05) in most acupuncture locus locations.
PMID: 1266803 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 33: IEEE Trans Biomed Eng 1975 Nov;22(6):533-5 | Related Articles, Links |
Reichmanis M, Marino AA, Becker RO.
PMID: 1184029 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 34: Nature 1975 Feb 20;253(5493):627-8 | Related Articles, Links |
Marino AA, Becker RO.
PMID: 1113852 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 35: ONA J 1975 Feb;2(2):35-6 | Related Articles, Links |
Becker RO.
PMID: 1037981 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 36: Experientia 1974 Nov 15;30(11):1274-5 | Related Articles, Links |
Marino AA, Berger TJ, Becker RO, Hart FX.
PMID: 4140104 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 37: Chem Biol Interact 1974 Sep;9(3):217-23 | Related Articles, Links |
Marino AA, Berger TJ, Becker RO, Spadaro JA.
PMID: 4426110 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 38: Clin Orthop 1974 Jul-Aug;0(102):251-67 | Related Articles, Links |
Baker B, Becker RO, Spadaro J.
PMID: 4425033 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 39: Calcif Tissue Res 1974 May 28;14(4):327-31 | Related Articles, Links |
Marino AA, Becker RO.
PMID: 4527112 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 40: Clin Orthop 1974 May;100(0):250-5 | Related Articles, Links |
Barranco SD, Spadaro JA, Berger TJ, Becker RO.
PMID: 4838406 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 41: Clin Orthop 1974 May;100(0):247-9 | Related Articles, Links |
Marino AA, Becker RO.
PMID: 4838405 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 42: Nature 1974 Mar 8;248(444):145-7 | Related Articles, Links |
Becker RO, Chapin S, Sherry R.
PMID: 4818918 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 43: Ann N Y Acad Sci 1974;238:586-93 | Related Articles, Links |
Bassett CA, Becker RO, Brighton CT, Lavine L, Rowley BA.
PMID: 4548340 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 44: Ann N Y Acad Sci 1974;238:491-9 | Related Articles, Links |
Baker B, Spadaro J, Marino A, Becker RO.
PMID: 4548334 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 45: Ann N Y Acad Sci 1974;238:451-6 | Related Articles, Links |
Becker RO, Cone CD, Jaffe LF, Parsegian VA, Pohl HA, Weiss L.
PMID: 4531274 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 46: Ann N Y Acad Sci 1974;238:436-44 | Related Articles, Links |
Marino AA, Berger TJ, Mitchell JT, Duhacek BA, Becker RO.
PMID: 4531272 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 47: Ann N Y Acad Sci 1974;238:236-41 | Related Articles, Links |
Becker RO.
PMID: 4531264 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 48: Exp Cell Res 1973 Jan;76(1):95-8 | Related Articles, Links |
Harrington DB, Becker RO.
PMID: 4118777 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 49: Biochim Biophys Acta 1972 May 18;263(3):585-92 | Related Articles, Links |
Spadaro JA, Becker RO.
PMID: 5034209 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 50: Bull N Y Acad Med 1972 May;48(4):627-41 | Related Articles, Links |
Becker RO, Spadaro JA.
PMID: 4503923 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
| 51: Clin Orthop 1972 Mar-Apr;83:255-62 | Related Articles, |