New high-tech gadget developed in Israel can curb pain associated with migraines.
Remember the last you had a debilitating migraine? Probably most of us know how bothersome migraines can be – they can strike without warning, and the effects can last for a whole day if not treated with the appropriate drugs. But you can now forget about migraine drugs because a team of Israeli researchers was successful in developing a device which can reduce and block migraine-associated pains altogether using mild electric shocks.
The study pertaining to the use of mild intensity electrical shock in the treatment of migraine-associated pains has been undertaken by a team of neurologists from the Rambam Medical Center in Israel. Dr. David Yarnitsky, the head of the neurology department and the lead researcher, declared that the new treatment for migraines is efficient, safe, and has no discernable side-effects.
Yarnitsky pointed out that the revolutionary device has been tested on over 70 patients, and it has been able to block out over 200 migraines. The treatment involves applying a coin-sized patch on the patient’s arm. The tiny device contains dozens of rubber electrodes and a smart chip which regulates the apparatus’s activity.
Furthermore, the chip also allows the patch to connect with any type of mobile device. In fact, Yarnitsky declared that the migraine patch could be controlled via a regular Android/iOS/Windows Phone application.
So, how does the device work? The head scientist explained that the patch is able to interrupt the migraine-associated pain signals from reaching the brain. Moreover, by stimulating the skin at the precise moment, the device triggers the chronic pain modulation system (our brain’s very own pain management program). Once activated, the brain will reduce or even block out entirely any pain associated with migraines.
The device developed at the Rambam Medical Center has three settings, each one suitable for a different pain level.
Yarnitsky declared that the device was tested on 71 participants. To assess the device’s efficiency in blocking pain signal, the researchers used real electric shocks as well as dummy ones. At the end of the trial, more than 64 percent of patients said that their pain had been cut in half, two hours after having received the treatment. They received real electric shocks.
On the other hand, only 24 percent of patients who have received dummy shocks said that they’d experienced a reduction in pain levels.
Yarnitsky said the device will soon be ready to be commercialized and added that he hope it will be approved by US’s FDA next year.
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