Wounds may heal more quickly if exposed to low-intensity vibration, report researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). The finding, in mice, may hold promise for the 18 million Americans who have type 2 diabetes, and especially the quarter of them who will eventually suffer from foot ulcers. Their wounds tend to heal slowly and can become chronic or worsen rapidly. Dr. Timothy Koh, UIC professor of kinesiology and nutrition in the UIC College of Applied Health Sciences, was intrigued by studies at Stony Brook University in New York that used very low-intensity signals to accelerate bone regeneration. "This technique is already in clinical trials to see if vibration can improve bone health and prevent osteoporosis," Dr. Koh said. Dr. Koh and his coworkers at UIC collaborated with Dr. Stefan Judex of Stony Brook to investigate whether the same technique might improve wound healing in diabetes. The new study, using an experimental mouse model of diabetes, is published online on March 11, 2014 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE. The low-amplitude vibrations are barely perceptible to touch. "It's more like a buzz than an earthquake," said Dr. Eileen Weinheimer-Haus, UIC postdoctoral fellow in kinesiology and nutrition, the first author of the study. The researchers found that wounds exposed to vibration five times a week for 30 minutes healed more quickly than wounds in mice of a control group. Wounds exposed to vibration formed more granulation tissue, a type of tissue important early in the wound-healing process. Vibration helped tissue to form new blood vessels -- a process called angiogenesis -- and also led to increased expression of pro-healing growth factors and signaling molecules called chemokines, Dr. Weinheimer-Haus said.Login Or Register To Read Full Story