What is "diathermy"

n. (context physics medicine English) The generation of heat using high-frequency electromagnetic currents; especially the therapeutic production of heat in tissues in order to form coagulation

n. a method of physical therapy that involves generating local heat in body tissues by high-frequency electromagnetic currents

In medicine, diathermy [di´ah-ther″me] is electrically induced heat or the use of high-frequency electromagnetic currents as a form of physical or occupational therapy and in surgical procedures. The field was pioneered in 1907 by German physician Karl Franz Nagelschmidt, who coined the term diathermy from the Greek words dia and θέρμη therma, literally meaning "heating through" (adj., diather´mal, diather´mic).

Diathermy is commonly used for muscle relaxation, and as a method of heating tissue electromagnetically or ultrasonically for therapeutic purposes in medicine. It is used in physical therapy and occupational therapy to deliver moderate heat directly to pathologic lesions in the deeper tissues of the body.

Diathermy is produced by three techniques: ultrasound (ultrasonic diathermy), short-wave radio frequencies in the range 1–100 MHz (shortwave diathermy) or microwaves typically in the 915 MHz or 2.45 GHz bands (microwave diathermy), the methods differing mainly in their penetration capability. It exerts physical effects and elicits a spectrum of physiological responses.

Surgically, the extreme heat that can be produced by diathermy may be used to destroy neoplasms, warts, and infected tissues, and to cauterize blood vessels to prevent excessive bleeding. The technique is particularly valuable in neurosurgery and surgery of the eye.