A study by researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW) found that heat generated by alternating magnetic fields (AMF) helps common antibiotics work better against prosthetic joint infections.
The study, published in Scientific Reports and promoted by UTSW last week, demonstrated the efficacy of AMF in eradicating bacteria-protecting biofilm from the surface of prosthetic joints used in knee and hip replacement surgeries.
UTSW states that eradicating biofilm would be “a critical step forward in enhancing treatment protocols for patients who experience postsurgical infections.”
“Prosthetic joint infections can be devastating to patients, requiring additional surgeries and long courses of antibiotics,” said study leader David Greenberg, MD, professor of internal medicine and microbiology and a member of the Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine at UT Southwestern. “Many patients experience substantial declines in physical, emotional, and even financial well-being following diagnosis because of the length and costs of treatment. Our findings may play a role in developing a new approach that can make a significant difference in patient recovery.”
Dr. Greenberg, who invented the AMF technoloigy, said the study builds on earlier studies at UTSW that found alternating magnetic fields can be used to generate heat that disrupts biofilm. He said the new study built on those earlier findings by testing AMF “against multiple bacterial strains and in combination with the most commonly used antibiotics that treat prosthetic infections.” It found that AMF significantly improved biofilm eradication “across all pathogens and antibiotics tested,” achieving “greater reductions in bacteria levels compared with the use of antibiotics alone.”
The study’s findings were also consistent across different types of metal composition, and worked best when the magnetic field generated a two‑minute burst of heat up to 80 degrees Celsius in order to help break apart biofilm. The researchers found that a new coil design used to create AMF can result in “magnetic fields that heat a complex shape, such as a knee, within the desired temperature range.”
“This technology could result in a paradigm shift in how patients are treated for these infections,” Dr. Greenberg said. “Our goal is to identify a therapeutic approach to enable implant retention so patients can avoid the risks and costs associated with multiple surgeries.”
Disclosure: The study was sponsored by a research agreement with Solenic Medical and partially funded by a grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Dr. Greenberg is chief medical officer for Solenic Medicine, which is commercializing the technology, and UTSW is a shareholder in the company.
Read the full study here. Below is a video about the technology.
