Jennifer Chu

University of Pennsylvania | UP · Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

ABSTRACT Introduction: ETOIMS optimally relieves denervation supersensitivity related myofascial pain when autonomous muscle twitches can be elicited focally or remotely at involved trigger points. Aim: To provide objective evidence that autonomous twitch elicitation with ETOIMS is best facilitated with concomitant transdermal magnesium sulfate...

ABSTRACT Introduction: ETOIMS optimally relieves myofascial pain when autonomous muscle twitches can be elicited at other distant muscles without direct electrical stimulation of involved trigger points. Aim: Use of magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) dermal spray is essential to demonstrate dominantsympathetic nervous system maintenance of pain. Methods and...

ABSTRACT Importance: Sleep deprivation or prolonged sleep has significant deleterious health effects on the cardiovascular system related to disturbances in autonomic nervous system (ANS) function. Magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) is an inexpensive natural element which reduces blood pressure (BP) through its effects on ANS and its probable influence on s...

ETOIMS optimally relieves denervation supersensitivity related myofascial pain when autonomous muscle twitches can be elicited focally or remotely at involved trigger points. This research shows that Magnesium Sulfate has the best capacity to potentiate ETOIMS pain relief effects probably through better skin absorption and vasodilation made possibl...

Randomised clinical trials are designed to determine whether a particular treatment is appropriate to make a significant difference to the health of a defined population and to aid its approval for use. For an accurate, cheap and simple assessment to see if a treatment benefits an individual person, all that is needed is a pen, paper, simple pocket...

Introduction Favourable pain relief results on evoking autonomous twitches at myofascial trigger points with Electrical Twitch Obtaining Intramuscular Stimulation (ETOIMS). Aim To document autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysfunction in Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) from blood pressure (BP) and pulse/heart rate changes with ETOIMS. Methods...

Introduction Autonomous twitch elicitation at myofascial trigger points from spondylotic radiculopathies-induced denervation supersensitivity can provide favourable pain relief using electrical twitch-obtaining intramuscular stimulation (ETOIMS). Aim To provide objective evidence that ETOIMS is safe and efficacious in migraine and persistent pain...

Chronic pain with a 30.3% global prevalence significantly impacts universal health. Low back pain has a 9.4% prevalence worldwide causing the most widespread disability. Neck pain ranks 4th highest regarding years lived with disability with a 4.9% prevalence worldwide. The principal cause of pain in 85% of patients visiting a tertiary pain clinic h...

Objectives: To display the effect of twitch-obtaining intramuscular stimulation [TOIMS] in chronic lower back pain management and to identify characteristics of patients who respond best to TOIMS. Methods: Retrospective analysis included 32 consecutive patients who failed conventional treatment for low back and/or lower extremity pain. All patients...

CRMP management involves electrical stimulation of motor points. To demonstrate that Electrical Twitch-Obtaining Intramuscular Stimulation (eToims) using ET127 system for noninvasive motor point stimulation is safe and efficacious in CRMP management. Longitudinal observation of consecutive self-pay outpatients treated from 10/06 through 4/08, divid...

Objectives: To determine if electrical twitch-obtaining intramuscular stimulation (ETOIMS) provides greater myofascial lower back pain relief than muscle stimulation or skin stimulation. Design: In this single-blinded, crossover, pilot trial performed at a university affiliated outpatient rehabilitation medicine department in Taiwan, 12 acupuncture...

Needle EMG studies in patients with whiplash symptoms to document presence of neural injury, such as cervical radiculopathy, are not available. To document presence of motor unit action potential (MUAP) parameter changes compatible with neurogenic involvement in symptomatic-limb muscles in whiplash induced acute and chronic pain states. Retrospecti...

Flare up of acute lower back pain associated with myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) may require various forms of treatment including activity restriction and bracing. Electrical twitch obtaining intramuscular stimulation (ETOIMS) is a promising new treatment. It involves the use of a strong monopolar electromyographic needle electrode for electrical s...

Quantitative electromyography (QEMG) allows fast analysis of motor unit action potential (MUAP) parameters such as amplitude, duration, size index (SI), phases, turns and firing rate. When automated duration cursor placement is incorrect, the electrodiagnostician will manually edit this function potentially introducing bias to the final results. To...

We evaluated the test-retest reliability (reproducibility) of motor unit action potential (MUAP) parameters in multi-MUAP analysis over time. Reproducibility studies are not available for needle quantitative electromyography (QEMG) performed by the same examiner. Fourteen consecutive individuals (10 men and 4 women) had repeat QEMG at 3 hours after...

Videofluorography (VF) and endoscopy are commonly used for dynamic imaging (DI) of pharyngeal swallowing but do not offer transverse plane (TP) information. The aim of the present study was to evaluate helical computerized tomography (HCT) to measure the DI capability pharyngeal swallowing in the TP. The HCT scan technique used was a single-slice c...

To determine if electrical twitch-obtaining intramuscular stimulation (ETOIMS) provides greater myofascial lower back pain relief than muscle stimulation or skin stimulation. In this single-blinded, crossover, pilot trial performed at a university-affiliated outpatient rehabilitation medicine department in Taiwan, 12 acupuncture-naive patients with...

Motor unit action potential (MUAP) rise time in quantitative electromyography (QEMG) using multi-MUAP analysis may influence neuromuscular disease diagnosis. To demonstrate in QEMG that MUAP firing rate/frequency (FR) is the parameter least dependent on electrodiagnostician skill (EDXc) skill and selection bias. During minimal contraction (< 6 MUAP...

Scientific development of acupuncture is described to increase its therapeutic efficacy and ultimate utilization. Acupuncture may have central, local and placebo effects. Little is known about the local effects of acupuncture specific to needle penetration and/or movement. Acupuncture points, muscle trigger points and motor end-plate zones are iden...

Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD) remains a painful disease entity of undetermined etiology and variable response to therapy. Presented is a patient with left leg early RSD and chronic musculoskeletal back pain who received automated and electrical twitch-obtaining intramuscular stimulation (ATOIMS & ETOIMS) treatments. Diagnosis combined clinical...

Proposed is that needling methods such as acupuncture, primarily effect pain relief in myofascial pain through a local mechanism, elicitation of muscle twitches. Occasionally, diagnostic needling procedures such as electromyography (EMG) can relieve such pain through insertional intramuscular movements of the needle electrode. This results in stimu...

Automated and/or electrical twitch-obtaining intramuscular stimulation (ATOIMS & ETOIMS) evoke twitches at/or near motor end plate zones to relieve muscle pain. To demonstrate that pain levels recorded daily by patients enable statistical process control (SPC) analysis of ATOIMS & ETOIMS effects over time. Four chronic fibromyalgic patients receive...

Chronic groin and scrotal pain is a common entity plaguing a significant population of young athletic individuals. Aside from urologic and visceral etiologies, there is a vast array of underlying musculoskeletal and spinal abnormalities that may be found in these individuals. Presented is a patient found to have chronic, spine-related groin and scr...

To display the long term observations noted on using Twitch-Obtaining Intramuscular Stimulation (TOIMS) in the management of myofascial pain from chronic partial cervical radiculopathy. Included in the study were forty consecutive patients with chronic neck and upper limb pain who failed standard treatments. They received TOIMS during 1/92 through...

To show in a pilot group of patients that electrodiagnostically derived new treatment techniques (automated twitch-obtaining intramuscular stimulation (ATOIMS) and electrical twitch-obtaining intramuscular stimulation (ETOIMS) methods) have a role in the control of radiculopathy related myofascial pain and fibromyalgia. Retrospective analysis of si...

To show that the monopolar pin electrode has a role in the control of radiculopathy related myofascial pain and fibromyalgia using the automated twitch-obtaining intramuscular stimulation (ATOIMS) and electrical twitch-obtaining intramuscular stimulation (ETOIMS) methods. A hand-held ATOIMS device facilitated the insertion, oscillation and retracti...

Twitch Obtaining Intramuscular Stimulation (TOIMS) is useful in the management of chronic nerve-related pain. The best understanding of the mechanism of action of TOIMS can occur on treating acute nerve-related symptoms. An opportunity to use TOIMS treatments in an acute, partial left radial palsy within 24 hours of onset did occur. Following treat...

EMG examination at tender points affects myofascial pain symptoms related to cervical nerve root irritation. Consecutive patients with neck and arm pain had physical examinations immediately before and after having EMGs of bilateral C3-C8 myotomes. Patients were randomly chosen for EMG either at the most tender point along the palpated myofascial b...

'Dry' needling or non-electrical and non-chemical intramuscular stimulation (IMS) has been found useful in the treatment of myofascial pain. To understand the effects of IMS on pain symptoms, patients with trauma induced low back pain (LBP) and radicular symptoms had electromyography (EMG) performed at painful myofascial bands from bilateral L2 to...

This paper reports on the effects of an increase in size of the recording surface of monopolar needles on motor unit potentials (MUPs). The teflon coating of the TECA monopolar needles MG37 and MF37, commonly used in clinical electromyography, was progressively denuded to increase the length of the recording tip to 2, 3, 5, and 10 times the normal...

The effects of the amplifier filter settings of 2Hz-10kHz, 20Hz-10kHz, 20Hz-2kHz and 500Hz-10kHz on parameters of motor unit action potentials (MUAPs) recorded with concentric and monopolar needles, were examined. The total group of MUAPs was analysed as well as the subgroups of simple and polyphasic MUAPs. Generally, the MUAP parameters recorded w...

We studied the effect of different electromyographic amplifier settings on various parameters of motor unit potentials (MUPs) as recorded by the monopolar needle. Of the four filter settings used--2Hz-10kHz, 20Hz-10kHz, 20Hz-2kHz and 500Hz-10kHz--2Hz-10kHz yielded longest duration recordings. Reductions of all parameters of the MUP except for phase...

A method is described for the automatic analysis of EMG interference patterns obtained at optional non-controlled force levels. It is a modification of Willison's method of measuring turns and amplitude of the signal. In the method, the mean amplitude is plotted against turns obtained during 300 msec for each of 20 recording sites. Different volunt...

One hundred consecutive patients with femoropopliteal autogenous vein grafts for limb salvage were reviewed five years later. In this group 40% died and 30% of the limbs had been lost at the end of five years. Limb survival correlated best with adequacy of distal run-off, but not with the presence or absence of diabetes. Forty-seven per cent of the...

One hundred consecutive femoropopliteal venous grafts in 85 patients with claudication were followed for five years. At this time, three limbs had been amputated, approximately one quarter of the patients had expired, and 70% of the grafts in surviving patients remained patent. It is concluded that this operation does not appear to increase the ris...