Last month Vista, CA-based DJO Global, a provider of medical devices for musculoskeletal, vascular, and pain management issues, introduced the Empi Active Knee to treat knee pain. The device uses transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), comfortable electrical stimulation, to stop pain signals from reaching the brain.
TENS is a nonpharmacological alternative for treating pain that avoids the adverse side effects conferred by chronic use of analgesic medications.
The Empi Active Knee has a predetermined electrode placement built into a specialized wrap and delivers TENS waveform to the knee to manage acute, chronic, and arthritic pain while minimizing interruption of daily activities.
The physiologic response is similar to that of pharmaceutical analgesics, but the device avoids possible negative side effects of chronic pain medication use.
