ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION The interest in using electricity to treat ailment has a very long history. The electric torpedo ‘sh was used to shock people to treat headache and gout over two centuries ago (1). The importance of the electrical control of cell physiology became apparent from the famous experiments of Galvani. His epic work on frog nerve-muscle preparations included the use of lightning rods connected to nerves via wires resulting in leg muscles twitching during a lightning storm. Similarly, static electricity generators creating sparks that activated nerve conduction also caused muscle to twitch. Equally important was his observation during a public experiment in Bologna in 1794 that the cut end of a frog sciatic nerve from one leg stimulated contractions when it touched the muscles of the opposite leg.
