Low-field thoracic magnetic stimulation increases peripheral oxygen saturation levels in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients: a single-blind, sham-controlled, crossover study

Abstract

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) may cause low oxygen saturation (SpO2) and respiratory failure in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients. Hence the increase of SpO2 levels could be crucial for the quality of life and recovery of these patients. Here we introduce an electromagnetic device termed low-field thoracic magnetic stimulation (LF-ThMS) system. This device was designed to non-invasively deliver a pulsed magnetic field from 100 to 118 Hz and 10.5 to 13.1 mT (i.e., 105 to 131 Gauss) to the dorsal thorax. We show that these frequencies and magnetic flux densities are safe for the patients. We also present a proof-of-concept that a single session of LF-ThMS applied for 30 minutes to the dorsal thorax of 17 COVID-19 patients significantly increases their SpO2 levels. We designed a single-blind, sham-controlled, crossover study on 5 COVID-19 patients who underwent two sessions of the study (real and sham LF-ThMS) and 12 COVID-19 patients who underwent only the real LF-ThMS. We found a statistically significant correlation between magnetic flux density, frequency, or temperature associated with the real LF-ThMS and SpO2 levels in all COVID-19 patients. However, the five patients of the sham-controlled study did not exhibit a significant change in their SpO2 levels during sham stimulation. All the patients did not present adverse events after the LF-ThMS intervention.