Low-field thoracic magnetic stimulation increases peripheral oxygen saturation levels in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 may cause low oxygen saturation (SpO 2 ) and respiratory failure in patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Hence, increased SpO 2 levels in COVID-19 patients could be crucial for their quality of life and recovery. This study aimed to demonstrate that a 30-minute single session of dorsal low-field thoracic magnetic stimulation (LF-ThMS) can be employed to increase SpO 2 levels in COVID-19 patients significantly. Furthermore, we hypothesized that the variables associated with LF-ThMS, such as frequency, magnetic flux density, and temperature in the dorsal thorax, might be correlated to SpO 2 levels in these patients. Here we employed an LF-ThMS device to noninvasively deliver a pulsed magnetic field from 100 to 118 Hz and 10.5 to 13.1 milliTesla (i.e., 105 to 131 Gauss) to the dorsal thorax. These values are within the intensity range of several pulsed electromagnetic field devices employed in physical therapy worldwide. We designed a single-blind, sham-controlled, crossover study on 5 COVID-19 patients who underwent 2 sessions of the study (real and sham LF-ThMS) and 12 patients who underwent only the real LF-ThMS. We found a statistically significant positive correlation between magnetic flux density, frequency, or temperature, associated with the real LF-ThMS and SpO 2 levels in all COVID-19 patients. However, the 5 patients in the sham-controlled study did not exhibit a significant change in their SpO 2 levels during sham stimulation. The employed frequencies and magnetic flux densities were safe for the patients. We did not observe adverse events after the LF-ThMS intervention. This study is 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 increased their SpO 2 levels. However, future research will be needed to understand the physiological mechanisms behind this finding. The study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (Identifier: NCT04895267, registered on May 20, 2021) retrospectively registered. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04895267 .

The Effect of Extremely Low-Frequency Magnetic Field on Stroke Patients: A Systematic Review

“…ELF-MFs include stimulation in the range of 0-300 Hz frequency and have biological effects on tissues. There are data showing that ELF-MFs cause functional changes in muscle, neural tissues and bones [12,13]; some researchers even claim that ELF-MFs may impair the ability of the SARS-CoV-2 virus to replicate and attack host cells [14]. It is indicated that ELF-MFs have a beneficial impact on brain tissue and its functions [15][16][17], suggesting that this stimulation method could be advantageous for patients after a stroke.…”