Investigation of the Efficiency of Shortwave Diathermy Devices with Frequency and Power Measurement Application

Abstract

Short Wave Diathermy (SWD); It is a physical therapy application method working with high frequency electromagnetic current, preferred in pathologies such as pain control, osteoarthrosis, fracture healing, joint contracture, muscle spasm, fibromyalgia, peripheral nerve repair, soft tissue healing in musculoskeletal injuries. SWD devices can cause serious biological effects such as tissue burns in the patient due to excessive radio frequency exposure due to malfunctioning and malfunctioning of the device, as well as having therapeutic properties. Likewise, the targeted effective treatment cannot be provided in cases such as insufficient output values for treatment due to lack of maintenance and calibration in the device. For this reason, it is necessary to check the output frequency and RF power values of the SWD devices used in health facilities at regular intervals, but it is observed that only electrical safety tests of the devices are still carried out in practice, due to the fact that the special equipment required for this process is monopolized by the manufacturer and it is high cost. In this study; The output frequency and RF power values of different types of SWD devices, which are registered in the inventory of Bursa İlker Çelikcan Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Hospital and are actively used in patient treatments for Physical Therapy, were measured by certain methods, and it was aimed to determine their effectiveness in treatment by evaluating the device performances.

Keywords

• Biomedical Calibration
• Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation
• Shortwave Diathermy
• Clinical Engineering
• RF Power

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