BOCA RATON, Fla. – Researchers at Florida Atlantic University are developing a device that could treat pain without the dangers of addictive drugs.
Dr. Julie Pilitsis, Dean and Vice President for medical affairs at the Schmidt College of Medicine, is working with a noninvasive therapeutic technique that directs ultrasonic waves to specific areas of the body where nerves have been injured.
The idea is to change the way nerves fire, and in turn, ease pain.
“And it worked great! We did some introductory studies which showed we could use a three-minute treatment with this device to have 30 days of pain relief,” Pilitsis said.
FAU is among seven institutions nationwide selected to receive funding from the National Institutes of Health for innovative pilot projects into new medical devices.
Also in today’s health news, a new cross-sectional study observed that people who regularly took vitamin D supplements were less likely to have melanoma, a form of skin cancer, than those who did not take supplements.
The researchers’ analysis also determined the risk level for melanoma among vitamin d supplement users was significantly reduced compared to that of non-users.
Despite the implications, study authors and experts suggest following national guidelines for taking vitamin D supplements and caution that maintaining vitamin d levels by themselves is unlikely to prevent or treat melanoma.