Surgically non-invasive method of and apparatus for altering the growth, repair and maintenance behavior of living tissues and/or cells by inducing voltage and concomitant current pulses of specific time-frequency-amplitude relations therewithin.
CROSS-REFERENCE
This application is a continuation-in-part of pending application Ser. No. 742,706, filed Nov. 17, 1976 (now U.S. Pat. No. 4,105,017), and said pending application is a continuation-in-part of our original application Ser. No. 633,408, filed Nov. 19, 1975, entitled "Modification of the Behavior of Living Tissue and Cells by Electrical Means", said Ser. No. 633,408 being now abandoned.
The invention contemplates a boot removably adapted for attachment to an engine hoof and carrying at least one multi-turn electrical coil which effectively surrounds at least the bottom of the hoof. A pulse generator and power source are self-contained in a housing carried at the back side of the boot, with provision for electrically exciting the coil with a succession of therapeutically beneficial low-voltage unidirectional asymmetrical pulses.
An apparatus and method for regulating tissue growth in vivo are provided. The apparatus includes a magnetic field generator and a magnetic field detector for producing a controlled, fluctuating, directionally oriented magnetic field parallel to a predetermined axis projecting through the target tissue. The field detector samples the magnetic flux density along the predetermined access and provides a signal to a microprocessor which determines the average value of the flux density. The applied magnetic field is oscillated at predetermined frequencies to maintain a preselected ratio of frequency to average flux density. This ratio is maintained by adjusting the frequency of the fluctuating magnetic field and/or by adjusting the intensity of the applied magnetic field as the composite magnetic flux density changes in response to changes in the local magnetic field to which the target tissue is subjected. By maintaining these precise predetermined ratios of frequency to average magnetic flux density, growth characteristics of the target tissue are controlled.
A deep-heating diathermy apparatus consisting of a hollow tube adapted to receive a part of the body, or other dielectric material to be treated. An rf coil coaxially surrounds the tube and is driven by an rf generator. The total wire length of the coil is approximately 0.7 to 1.3 (depending on specific electrical properties and volume of the treated material) times the wavelength of a basic driving frequency provided by the generator. The output of the generator is supplied to the coil via a 50-ohm coaxial cable and a matching impedance. The coil may be driven by frequencies corresponding to integral multiples of one-half the basic wavelength, to enable shifting the heat focus volume along the coil axis from the normal centered location on the axis produced by full-wave excitation.
An apparatus for treating a patient which induces an electric current in the body through external application of an electromagnetic field. The apparatus includes means for controlling the magnitude of the induced electric current by sensing the electromagnetic field and automatically controlling its strength. The sensing may be accomplished through time multiplexed use of the field inducing coil or through the use of a separated, dedicated coil.
A method for treating living tissues and/or cells consisting essentially of electromagnetically inducing in the tissue and/or cells alternating pulsating electrical signals having a wave form which comprises a positive portion with a duration of between 1 and 3 milliseconds, and a negative portion having a peak value less than that of the positive portion, followed by a region of exponential extension tending to the reference value zero.
