Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Some examples for target populations
The largest populations of patients that have received, or could
benefitfrommagneticfieldtherapyarevictimsofmusculoskeletal
disorders, wounds and pain. Following is a summary of informa-
tionforthenumberofpeopleintheUSAwhoneedshelpinabove-
mentioned areas. Five million bone fractures occur annually in
the United States alone. About 5% of these became delayed or
nonunionfractures (Ryaby, 1998).
According to National Osteoporosis Foundation about 10
million Americans have osteoporosis and 34 million(s) of US
citizens have low bone density, which put them at risk for further
musculoskeletal disorders. Chronic wounds and their treatment
areanenormousburdenonthehealthcaresystem,bothin
terms of their cost ($5 billion to $9 billion annually) and the
intensity of care required. There is even more cost to society from
human suffering and reduced productivity. More than 2 million
people suffer from pressure ulcers and as many as 600,000 to
2.5 million more have chronic leg and foot wounds (Wysocki,
1996).Diabeticfootulcersareprobablythemostcommonchronic
wounds in western industrialized countries. Of the millions who
have diabetes mellitus, 15 per cent will suffer foot ulceration
which often leads to amputation 100,000 per annum in the US
alone).(Pilla,2006)TheNationalInstitutesofHealthestimatethat
more than 48 million Americans suffer chronic pain that results
in a 65 billion loss of productivity and over $ 100 billion spent
on pain care (Markov, 2004c). Better part of this money is spent
for pain - relief medications. Recent advances in magnetotherapy
suggest that carefully selected magnetic fields might be helpful
in treatment of diseases as Parkinson's, Alzheimer, as well as
Reflex Sympathetic Disorders which have relatively small number
of potentialusers.
(
Source
: Markov M., Pulsed electromagnetic field therapy, history,
state of the art and future, submitted to Electromagn.
Biol. Med
.for
publication Nov. 2006.)
Again quoting from the
Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (Br)
,
Hannoucheetal.,inareviewarticleofpulsedelectromagneticfields
(PEMFs), wrote in 2001:
