PST- Regeneration process
PST- Regeneration process
The flow of charged particles, The hydrogen protons, affects the reconstruction of the electrical field (streaming potential) normally present around a joint and which is not only disturbed in arthritic patients, in tendonitis and injuries, but in nearly all orthopaedic conditions.
PST, while it can be used in bone tissue also, finds its main indication in the treatment of cartilage and of soft and connective tissues. To understand the effect of PST, it must be remembered that when a joint is subjected to compressive stress, there is a displacement of the water present in the matrix accompanied by sodium ions, leaving the negative charges of proteoglycan molecules unneutralised. By a mechanism of mechanical-electrical transduction, the mechanical stimulus is transformed into a weak electric current (potential streaming) which is thought to represent the main signal for the cartilage cells to increase the synthesis of proteoglycans and collagen.
Bone and cartilage tissues have electromagnetic natural bio-potentials which are of crucial importance to the formation and the dynamic functional adaptation of the tissue. Various factors, including electric stimuli such as pulsed electromagnetic fields, can activate the regeneration process. The combined energy parameters of Pulsed Signal Therapy (PST) belong to the range also observed in the connective tissue.
Supported by clinical studies and laboratory research
Early improvement of the joint function (mobility and flexibility) by the removal of muscular tension, with normalized joint kinematics and reduced pain
Acceleration of the healing process in injuries to joint-related structures
Stimulation of the chondrocyte activity on streaming potentials with regeneration of the cartilage tissue
Stimulation of the osteoblast activity through piezoelectric potentials with stabilisation of the bone thickness
If the potential streaming is the signal for chondrocytes to produce new matrix, the same effect can be obtained by exposing the joint to an electro-magnetic field, producing currents which stimulate those of the organism. Administration in this way of a low strength pulsed signals at a frequency similar to the biological one that is capable of creating an electrical field in the joint, prompting the regeneration of the cartilaginous tissue, and thus conferring physical chondroprotection.