Magneto-rheology to Lower Blood Pressure

Summary

Heart attacks and strokes are the leading causes of death in US. High blood viscosity and turbulence in blood flow are the key for cardiovascular diseases. Recent research has shown that application of a strong magnetic field along the blood flow direction will polarize the red blood cells and align them into short chains along the flow, so that the blood viscosity in the flow direction is reduced significantly and disturbed motions in the directions perpendicular to the flow is suppressed. This makes the blood flow laminar, turbulence suppressed, and the possibility of cardiac events reduced. Such magnet treatment also cures rouleaux and improves the blood's oxygen function. The lab tests also confirm that the above effects last more than 24 hours after one treatment.

The purpose of this trial is to apply this technology to humans. According to the lab tests, this magnetic treatment has the potential to bring the following benefits to the subjects: (a)The blood viscosity will be reduced by 10-20% or more. (b) The turbulence in blood circulation will be suppressed by the treatment. After the treatment, the blood flow will be laminar. As a joint effect of viscosity reduction and turbulence suppression, the blood pressure will be lowered by 10-20% or more. (c) The subject's blood oxygen function will be improved by the treatment. Especially, if the subject has rouleaux in his/her blood, the effect will be significant. (d) The above effects will last for about 24 hours after one treatment and slowly decay; however, re-treatment will bring the effects back. (e) Because steady laminar blood flow is atheroprotective by active reduction of inflammatory genes, the magnetic treatment, reducing disturbed blood flow hemodynamics, would be possible to have a long term effect as an anti-atherogenic therapy if the treatment keeps for a while.

The investigators have just completed the pilot clinical trial. The tests confirm that the technology is safe and effective in lowering the blood pressure and the effect lasts about 24 hours. The present pivotal clinical trials are the continuation and expansion of the pilot tests. The successful clinical trials will make this technology available for people in preventing heart attack and stroke.

Conditions

• Hypertension

Interventions

DEVICE

Magnetic field treatment

The MBPL device for clinical trials is made with modification of an electromagnet: A bore of 10cm diameter was made to go through the frame and poles. The device can produce a magnetic field close to 1.0 T inside the bore, which is along the axis direction. The trial for each subject takes about 20-30 minutes. To start with, the subject's blood pressure is measured first as the baseline. Afterwards, the subject places his/her right arm into the bore of the electromagnet for treatment while the blood pressure is monitored with the left arm. The magnetic treatment lasts about 15 minutes and will lower the subject's blood pressure. In order to see how long the effect lasts, the subject needs to return and measure the blood pressure again 24 hours after the treatment. The clinical trials are non-invasive. There is no medicine or surgery involved.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Cardiovascular Therapy LLC

  lead INDUSTRY

Principal Investigators

• Rongjia Tao, Ph.D. · Cardiovascular Therapy LLC

Study Design

Allocation

NA

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

80 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2018-08-10

Primary Completion

2019-08-09

Completion

2019-08-31

FDA Device

Yes

Countries

• United States

Study Locations