ELECTROTHERAPY APPARATUS

Typical Number in Hospital: 10

Cost Bands: 4

References: 10

Electrotherapy is a form of physiotherapy in which muscles are stimulated directly or indirectly via the nerves to exercise denervated or partially denervated muscles, or to develop wasted muscles after immobilization, and to develop the blood supply. The most common form of treatment is to apply saline or conductive gel-covered electrodes directly over the sites to be stimulated. Variations on this may include placing the whole limb in a bath in which the electrodes are placed, or by the use of internal electrodes in the vagina or rectum for developing the pelvic floor muscles.

Current waveforms may be interrupted direct current, sinusoidal low-frequency currents (e.g. 50 Hz), or faradic currents. Faradic currents are bursts of short pulses such as can be generated from induction coils or latterly using electronic generators. An electrotherapy apparatus may be a multi-purpose generator and electrode set for delivering a selection of these different treatment modes, and varying the intensity, pulse lengths, and providing particular treatment regimes employing bursts of pulses or sinusoidal current, steadily rising currents and with variable periods of rest between each muscle contraction. The physiotherapist plans a treatment regime for each patient and decides on the siting of electrodes and type of current to be used.

The patient electrodes are normally isolated from the mains supply and earth.

Therapeutic diathermy apparatus used in the physiotherapy department employing high-frequency currents (usually 27 MHz) is sometimes termed electrotherapy apparatus. These short-wave diathermy machines, and also microwave diathermy machines do induce electric currents into the body but do not stimulate muscles. The principal effect is to generate heat deep within the tissue to stimulate the blood supply and reduce inflammation.