Science Beyond Frontiers (SBF) Healthcare, a Bangalore-based healthcare provider, has opened its centre in Mumbai where the world's first painless and non-surgical treatment for osteoarthritis will be available. Union Minister of State for Women and Child Development Renuka Chowdhury inaugurated the facility recently.

Giving details about the treatment, SBF Healthcare CEO Wg Cdr Dr VC Vasishta said, "We use Rotational Field Quantum Magnetic Resonance (RFQMR) to regenerate the degenerated cartilage and relieves chronic pain and disability of the knee non-invasively with multi-frequency rotating quantum electromagnetic resonating beams. People can escape from knee replacement surgery."

He said that the RFQMR is a new method used to alter the cytokinetics or cell division and proliferation process in biological tissues. A device called "Cytotron" delivers RFQMR beams. These beams are meant to interfere with the messages from the genes and alter the dynamics of the cell so that the cell is activated to reproduce and proliferate as is required in OA. RFQMR beams are precisely computer controlled and acts highly specifically. The high specificity of QMR applications also ensures that normally healthy cells in regions adjacent to the region of the interest are not affected in any manner.

The Minister also shared her experience as a patient. "As a patient, I had knee problems and was confined to wheelchair. I was given an option of knee replacement surgery that has a 40 per cent rate of success, which is also extremely painful. I was scared to undergo surgery. I came to know about Dr Vasishta's new treatment and now as a proof, I stand before you. His discovery is the first of its kind in the world and is sure to fetch him Nobel Prize."

Dr Vasishta stated that the procedure includes an hour of exposure to RF beams everyday for three weeks. The cost involved is a fourth of knee replacement surgery and varies from Rs 45,000 to 70,000 per knee depending on the severity of the case.

On the benefits of the treatment, Dr Vasishta said, "RFQMR method is a painless, safe, non-invasive and cost effective alternative method to surgery. There are no side effects and it involves natural growth of cartilage as against insertion of a foreign substance."

Dr Vasishta raises hope when he says RFQMR can be used for curing diabetes, multiple sclerosis, macular degeneration and even cancer. "This is jus the tip of the iceberg," he said.

When asked about the safety of this procedure, Dr Vasishta gives assurance that RFQMR technology uses radio frequency beams that are harmless and are well below the limits certified by the International Commission for Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection. The results of his clinical trials, phase I and II, spanning three years initiated at the Institute of Aerospace Medicine (IAM), Bangalore is the validation of this new method of cure. He has testimony of around 800 patients.

On future plans, Dr Vasishta stated that he has plans to expand this technology to other patients in major cities like Hyderabad, Delhi, Chennai, Pune, and Kolkata.