Pulsed Electro magnetic Field Therapy (PEMF) & Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS/TMS) In Stroke

Pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) research shows improved cell survival after ischemic shock is induced. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS / TMS)  research on human subjects repeatedly shows statistically significantly improvement in human participants. rTMS and PEMF studies even 5-10 years post event show measurable improvement. Based on available research (see below) PEMF used in concert with standard rehabilitative therapy should result in significantly improved outcome. In unrelated studies PEMF have shown clear neuroprotective and regenerative effects.

Several hundred pulsed electromagnetic field therapy citations are contained in our research bibliographies. Many of them are linked directly to PubMed a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the U.S. National Institutes of Health for you to begin your search.

These studies are offered for your education only and are not intended as promotional material for EarthPulse™ device and methods.

See also; Sandyk R, Anninos PA , Jacobson JI; three pioneers of electromagnetic field therapy to treat Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and epilepsy.

PEMF Background:

introduction to electromedicine

brain wave entrainment

brain wave entrainment II


Research Bibliographies:

arthritis and pulsed electromagnetic field therapy research

athletic performance enhancement and pulsed electromagnetic field therapy research

Alzheimer's disease and pulsed electromagnetic field therapy research

back pain and EarthPulse™ v.2.3

bone / connective tissue regeneration and pulsed electromagnetic field therapy research

depression and pulsed electromagnetic field therapy research

EMF - electropollution research (your brain and your wireless technologies)

epilepsy and pulsed electromagnetic field therapy research

fibromyalgia and pulsed electromagnetic field therapy research

insomnia and pulsed electromagnetic field therapy research

migraine headache and pulsed electromagnetic field therapy research

multiple sclerosis and pulsed electromagnetic field therapy research

nerve regeneration and pulsed electromagnetic field therapy research

neuropathy and pulsed electromagnetic field therapy research

osteoporosis and pulsed electromagnetic field therapy research

pain and pulsed electromagnetic field therapy research

Parkinson's disease and pulsed electromagnetic field therapy research

stroke and pulsed electromagnetic field therapy research

tinnitus and pulsed electromagnetic field therapy research

transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS / TMS) research


EarthPulse research:

video evidence

client feedback forms

chronic lower back pain/sleep

news


J Neuroeng Rehabil. 2009 Mar 2;6:7.  Links
Transcranial magnetic stimulation, synaptic plasticity and network oscillations.
The basic principle of TMS is that most neuronal axons that fall within the volume of magnetic stimulation become electrically excited, trigger action potentials and release neurotransmitter into the postsynaptic neurons. What happens afterwards remains elusive, especially in the case of repeated stimulation. Here we discuss the likelihood that certain TMS protocols produce long-term changes in cortical synapses akin to long-term potentiation and long-term depression of synaptic transmission. Beyond the synaptic effects, TMS might have consequences on other neuronal processes, such as genetic and protein regulation, and circuit-level patterns, such as network oscillations. Furthermore, TMS might have non-neuronal effects such as changes in blood flow, which are still poorly understood.

Acta Neurol Scand. 2009 Mar;119(3):155-61. Epub 2008 Sep 3. Links
Treatment of post-stroke dysphagia with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation.
Department of Neurology, Assiut University Hospital, Assiut, Egypt.

Expert Rev Neurother. 2007 Mar;7(3):249-58.  Links
Use of transcranial magnetic stimulation of the brain in stroke rehabilitation.
Istituto di Neurologia, Universita Cattolica, L.go A. Gemelli 8, 00168 Rome, Italy

Clin Neurophysiol. 2007 Feb;118(2):333-42. Epub 2006 Dec 12.  Links
Exploring Theta Burst Stimulation as an intervention to improve motor recovery in chronic stroke.
Institute of Neurology, University College London (UCL), UK

NeuroRx. 2006 Oct;3(4):474-81.  Links
Noninvasive brain stimulation in stroke rehabilitation.
Human Cortical Physiology Section and Stroke Neurorehabilitation Clinic, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA.

Stroke. 2006 Jun;37(6):1471-6. Epub 2006 May 4.
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation-induced corticomotor excitability and associated motor skill acquisition in chronic stroke.

Kim YH, You SH, Ko MH, Park JW, Lee KH, Jang SH, Yoo WK, Hallett M.

RESULTS: rTMS resulted in significantly larger increase in the MEP amplitude than the sham rTMS (P<0.01), and the change was positively associated with an enhanced motor performance accuracy.

Stroke. 2006 Jun 29; [Epub ahead of print]
A Sham-Controlled Trial of a 5-Day Course of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of the Unaffected Hemisphere in Stroke Patients.

Fregni F, Boggio PS, Valle AC, Rocha RR, Duarte J, Ferreira MJ, Wagner T, Fecteau S, Rigonatti SP, Riberto M, Freedman SD, Pascual-Leone A. From the Harvard Center for Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass.

RESULTS: Active rTMS resulted in a significant improvement of the motor function performance in the affected hand that lasted for 2 weeks. These effects were not observed in the sham rTMS group (affected and unaffected hand). Furthermore, this increased dose of rTMS is not associated with cognitive adverse effects and/or epileptogenic activity

Neurology. 2005 Aug 9;65(3):466-8.
Therapeutic trial of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation after acute ischemic stroke.

Khedr EM, Ahmed MA, Fathy N, Rothwell JC. Department of Neurology, Assiut University Hospital, Assiut, Egypt.

Disability scales at the end of the last rTMS session, and 10 days later showed that real rTMS improved patients' scores more than sham.

Improving disability in stroke with RTMS.
Lancet Neurol. 2005 Aug;4(8):454-5. No abstract available.
PMID: 16033688 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Semin Speech Lang. 2004 May;25(2):181-91.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation as a complementary treatment for aphasia.

Following 10 rTMS treatments, significant improvement in naming pictures was observed. This form of rTMS may provide a novel, complementary treatment for aphasia.

Clin Neurophysiol. 2004 May;115(5):1044-51.
Induction of long-term plasticity in human swallowing motor cortex following repetitive cortical stimulation.

SIGNIFICANCE: This might be a useful approach in the motor rehabilitation of dysphagic stroke patients who have damage to sensory projections to the swallowing cortex.

Biol Psychiatry. 2004 Feb 15;55(4):398-405.
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation as treatment of poststroke depression: a preliminary study.

BACKGROUND: Depression has a significant impact on poststroke recovery and mortality. There are a proportion of patients with poststroke depression (PSD) who do not respond to antidepressants. Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) might be a safe and effective alternative in these refractory cases.

CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, these preliminary findings suggest that rTMS may be an effective and safe treatment alternative for patients with refractory depression and stroke.


Bioelectromagnetics. 1994;15(3):205-16.     Related Articles, Links

Protection against focal cerebral ischemia following exposure to a pulsed electromagnetic field.
Grant G, Cadossi R, Steinberg G.
Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University, California 94305.
There is evidence that electromagnetic stimulation may accelerate the healing of tissue damage following ischemia. We undertook this study to investigate the effects of low frequency pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) exposure on cerebral injury in a rabbit model of transient focal ischemia (2 h occlusion followed by 4 h of reperfusion). PEMF exposure (280 V, 75 Hz, IGEA Stimulator) was initiated 10 min after the onset of ischemia and continued throughout reperfusion (six exposed, six controls). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and histology were used to measure the degree of ischemic injury. Exposure to pulsed electromagnetic field attenuated cortical ischemia edema on MRI at the most anterior coronal level by 65% (P < 0.001). On histologic examination, PEMF exposure reduced ischemic neuronal damage in this same cortical area by 69% (P < 0.01) and by 43% (P < 0.05) in the striatum. Preliminary data suggest that exposure to a PEMF of short duration may have implications for the treatment of acute stroke.

J Cell Biochem. 1993 Apr;51(4):387-93.     Related Articles, Links

Beneficial effects of electromagnetic fields.
Bassett CA.
Bioelectric Research Center, Columbia University, Riverdale, New York 10463.
Selective control of cell function by applying specifically configured, weak, time-varying magnetic fields has added a new, exciting dimension to biology and medicine. Field parameters for therapeutic, pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMFs) were designed to induce voltages similar to those produced, normally, during dynamic mechanical deformation of connective tissues. As a result, a wide variety of challenging musculoskeletal disorders have been treated successfully over the past two decades. More than a quarter million patients with chronically ununited fractures have benefitted, worldwide, from this surgically non-invasive method, without risk, discomfort, or the high costs of operative repair. Many of the athermal bioresponses, at the cellular and subcellular levels, have been identified and found appropriate to correct or modify the pathologic processes for which PEMFs have been used. Not only is efficacy supported by these basic studies but by a number of double-blind trials. As understanding of mechanisms expands, specific requirements for field energetics are being defined and the range of treatable ills broadened. These include nerve regeneration, wound healing, graft behavior, diabetes, and myocardial and cerebral ischemia (heart attack and stroke), among other conditions. Preliminary data even suggest possible benefits in controlling malignancy.

Basset pre-dates R.O. Becker's use of electricity to heal bone.