Abstract: A system and method for pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMF) tissue engineering enhances musculoskeletal tissue stimulation. A tissue engineering device may include both low and high pulse frequency signal generation components that may alternatively drive one or more coils to generate PEMFs. These PEMFs may be applied to bone tissue, tendons, ligaments, and/or cartilage. A prescribed treatment regimen using the tissue engineering device may include a first period of time where a first pulse frequency is used in treatment that supports tissue proliferation followed by a second period of time where a second pulse frequency (less than the first pulse frequency) is used in treatment that supports tissue differentiation. A treatment regimen may also include, with the frequency characteristic, applying a slew rate to the pulse characteristics that is on the order of around 30 to 100 Tesla per second to drive tissue differentiation in a targeted manner.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
January 12, 2018
Date of Patent:
May 19, 2020
Assignee:
Orthofix, Inc.
Inventors:
James T. Ryaby, Erik Waldorff, Ronald Midura, Maciej Zborowski
Abstract: A method and associated apparatus are presented for stimulating biological activity of cell receptors. The biological activity of cell receptors is stimulated by positioning a transmitter in proximity with the target cell receptors, generating an electromagnetic field, such that the flux of the electromagnetic field extends through the target cell receptors, and fluctuating the electromagnetic field at a predetermined rate of fluctuation. An associated apparatus is presented which stimulates biological activity of cell receptors. The apparatus comprises a field coil electrically connected to an alternating current source with a predetermined rate of fluctuation. The alternating current flows through the field coils, thereby generating an electromagnetic field with a predetermined rate of fluctuation.