Electrical Enhancement of Healing in Combat Injuries to Hard and Soft Tissues.

Abstract

Investigations are in progress to evaluate the feasibility of using electrical currents to routinely enhance the healing of wounds to hard and soft tissues. Studies are underway in which the effects of electrical currents on processes related to wound healing are being characterized at three different levels of biological organization to permit an efficient assessment of the feasibility of the concept and to permit optimization of effective administration procedures. The preliminary work to date has revealed encouraging influences of electrical energy at the cellular level in the form of increased mitotic activity and at the level of the intact organism in enhanced formation of osseous reparative tissue and related tissue and systemic reactions. These results are encouraging and the studies are being extended. The present program has prime military significance in terms of increased manpower efficiency and in the enhancement of effectiveness of various therapeutic procedures. Furthermore, these objectives are being obtained at greatly reduced cost by cross utilization of skills and facilities in a multidisciplinary team effort.

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 31, 1973
Accession Number
AD0768221

Entities

People

  • B. S. Savara
  • R. T. Tacke
  • R. W. Fields

Organizations

  • University of Oregon

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Combat Injuries
  • Diseases And Disorders
  • Efficiency
  • Electric Power
  • Manpower
  • Optimization
  • Organizational Structure
  • Soft Tissues
  • Tissues
  • Wound Healing

Readers

  • Systems Analysis and Design
  • Trauma Surgery or Emergency Medicine.