In a new achievement the American scientists have successfully manufactured a new manual system which injects a small ice bell under the skin and in this way it prevents from pain transmission in the patients suffering from arthritis.
The effect of this outpatient treatment which takes less then a few minutes is similar to local anesthetics; however, it has a longer effect.
Now the scientists have began a larger trial by using this method and have tested that on the patients suffering from knee arthritis.
When cartilages at the end of bones are destroyed as the result of abrasion, bones overlap and experience friction causing pain.
One out of each adult suffers from knee arthritis. Treatments for this pain encompass a range of steroid injections and calmatives to surgery and replacement of joints.
This system is called Cryo-Touch system and is a non-surgical approach which removes pharmaceutical need.
This icy treatment is a kind of Cryotherapy in which physicians use very cold temperatures to treat different diseases.
This treatment is used for different skin diseases including freezing of small skin cancers and benign tumors such as wart.
Cryotherapy is also used to treat prostate cancer in which physicians freeze cancer cells.
Researchers have recently used this method for the pain of joints especially in elbow, knee and shoulder.
This modern system that has been approved for use in UK is constituted of three stainless steel needles which are connected to a cylinder containing fluid nitrogen oxide.
These needles are designed to prevent from transmission of this very cold material into tissues which may cause serious injuries in case of contact.
Instead, when the fluid exits from the needle, it will change into gas due to very high pressure. This causes the needle to become very cold and an icy ball is produced on its top. In this system, three needles are used to increase the icy ball volume.
These needles are plunged within a few millimeters under the skin. Then, the system starts and a small icy ball is formed under the skin.
This icy ball damages to the blood vessels that transmit blood to the peripheral nerves around the joint. These nerves cannot send pain signs without any blood source.
Each treatment takes about 5 minutes. The physician lets the icy ball to become warm and then pulls out the needles.
A former human research conducted by the University of Washington with a similar technology showed that this treatment was effective for some patients and its effect remained for eight months.
The pain returns with the growth of new blood vessels and reactivation of nerves. In such case, another injection period may be effective.