**1. Introduction**

Diathermy treatment has long been used in the recovery of sports injuries, the term itself refers to heat, as the most important effect of the treatment. The movements of water molecules by the effect of electromagnetic waves, produce heat. But today it is known that molecular effects, especially in the cell membrane, produce the movement of ions, which function as signals for the immune response. The increased production of both epithelial and vascular growth factors, which improve healing and produce angiogenesis, increasing blood circulation, have given a new perspective to this treatment. Where, selecting the appropriate frequency, the highest energy power, expanding the treatment area and the possibility of recognizing the penetration of the energy in the tissue, gives a new perspective to the treatment

of Tecartherapy, for the athlete's injuries. The effects of RF are detailed below. The objective of this Chapter is then to put in the hands of Physicians, Rehabilitators and Physiotherapists the current knowledge of the effects of the new RF equipment for the treatment of sports injuries.

Diathermy, a Greek word that means "through heat", consists of the application of short or long-wave electromagnetic energy. This wave radiation is in the radiofrequency (RF) range (3 kHz to 300 MHz frequency and 1 m to 100 km of wavelength). The use of diathermy dates back to 1892, when d'Arsonval used radio frequency electromagnetic fields with a 10 kHz frequency to produce a warm sensation without muscle contractions, that take place at a lower frequency [1] (Culotta 1970).

The most important factor that determines whether a diathermy device will increase body temperature is the amount of energy absorbed by the tissue. This is determined by the intensity of the electromagnetic field produced by the device and by the type of tissue in which it is applied. However, there are more factors that contribute to the penetration of energy in the body that we will evaluate below.

We will first describe the electromagnetic field. An electromagnetic field is the force field created around an electric current that is made up of an electric field and a magnetic field. Both electric and magnetic fields are produced when a charged particle moves at a constant speed. EMFs (Electro Magnetic Fields) are generated when the charged particle accelerates and increases in speed. Very often, this acceleration takes place in the form of an oscillation, therefore the electric and magnetic fields are oscillating.

The objective of this Chapter is to put in the hands of Physicians, Rehabilitators and Physiotherapists the current knowledge, of the effects of the new RF equipment for the treatment of sports injuries. This chapter will develop the basic concepts of innovative RF technology with the intention of minimizing the inflammatory and pain effects, that many musculoskeletal injuries cause, as well as, ensuring that tissue regeneration is done through total recovery from injury and that the recovery time is minimized. These concepts will be developed in detail in the next few lines.

#### **2. Frequency**

Frequency is the wavelength of the oscillation. Different frequencies are used in diathermy. As tissue absorption increases with frequency, it is often assumed that lower frequencies, on the order of MHz, result in better transfer efficiency. But it has been pointed out that the frequency of 1 MHz is the one that manages to overcome the resistance of the cell membrane and produce the intracellular effects that we will see later [2] (Ivorra 2002).

#### **3. Power**

One of the fundamental components of electromagnetic fields is power or energy. Electromagnetic waves provide energy to a system by virtue of their electric and magnetic fields. These fields can exert forces and move charges in the system and, therefore, work on them. However, there is energy in an electromagnetic wave itself, whether it is absorbed or not. Once created, the fields carry energy from a source. If some energy is then absorbed, the intensity of the field decreases. Clearly, the greater the strength of the electric and magnetic fields, the more work they can do and the greater the energy carried by the electromagnetic wave. In

*Use of an Evolution in Tecartherapy for Muscle Improvement and Treatment of Sports Injuries DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.96776*

electromagnetic waves, the amplitude is the maximum field strength of the electric and magnetic fields. The energy of the waves is determined by the amplitude of the waves. The energy carried by a wave depends on its amplitude [3] (Ling et Al 2019).
