Clinicians
Clinic Equipment: What the Trials Show
Lasers, shockwave, magnetic stimulation, compression, ultrasound and the other equipment sold to clinics, sorted by the grade of the modality and the condition the grade applies to.
Equipment used in clinics and treatment rooms, grouped by its grade. Each entry links to the modality's own page, where its trials, cautions and any listed products are.
Graded A or B
Each letter holds for the condition named on its endpoint The outcome a trial measures to decide whether the treatment worked, such as heart attacks, blood pressure or a symptom score. line and no other.
- ABlinded clinician ratingDevice or therapy · Randomized controlled trials People are assigned to the treatment or a comparison by chance, so the groups differ only in what they received. It is the design that can show cause and effect. + meta-analysis A study that pools the numbers from several trials into one combined estimate. of randomized trialsEndpoint: Severe (grade 3 to 4) oral mucositis during head and neck radiotherapy or chemoradiation and stem cell transplant, graded by blinded clinicians
- AMeasured functionDevice or therapy · Randomized controlled trials + meta-analysis of randomized trialsEndpoint: Early quadriceps strength and mobility after total knee replacement, compared with usual care (dynamometer strength, timed up-and-go)
- ADevice or therapy · Randomized controlled trials + meta-analysis of randomized trialsEndpoint: Response and remission in treatment-resistant major depression on blinded clinician-rated scales (HAM-D, MADRS)
- ABlinded clinician ratingDevice or therapy · Randomized sham-controlled trials and meta-analyses, by useEndpoint: Postoperative cognitive dysfunction in older adults having major surgery, on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment
- AMeasured functionDevice or therapy · Randomized trials and meta-analyses of CPAP against usual care, sham A fake version of a procedure or device used as the comparison, so participants cannot tell which one they received. CPAP or inactive controlEndpoint: Objectively measured daytime wakefulness in moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea
- BDevice or therapy · Meta-analysis of randomized trials (Chow et al. Lancet 2009, LLLT neck pain)Endpoint: Neck pain and tendinopathy pain (self-report)
- BMeasured functionDevice or therapy · Meta-analyses of randomized trialsEndpoint: Muscle strength / hypertrophy (objective, low-certainty)
- BMeasured functionDevice or therapy · Systematic review A review that searches for every study on a question using a method set in advance, then assesses them together. of randomized trialsEndpoint: Limb volume reduction (clinical lymphedema)
- BDevice or therapy · Randomized controlled trials + meta-analysis of randomized trialsEndpoint: Depression scores, response and remission in winter seasonal depression and non-seasonal major depression on clinician-rated scales (SIGH-SAD, HAM-D, MADRS)
- BDevice or therapy · Meta-analyses of randomized trials and a sham-controlled randomized trialEndpoint: Self-reported anxiety
- BDevice or therapy · Randomized controlled trials + meta-analysis of randomized trialsEndpoint: Chronic low back pain and disability, short term (self-report)
- BSurrogate biomarkerDevice or therapy · A randomized crossover A trial design in which each participant receives both the treatment and the comparison, one after the other, and serves as their own control. against CPAP and network meta-analyses of randomized trialsEndpoint: Apnea severity, daytime sleepiness and blood pressure in obstructive sleep apnea
Graded C or D
Mixed, small or null trials. These are listed because they are widely sold to clinics.
- CDevice or therapy · Sham-controlled randomized trials + meta-analyses of randomized trialsEndpoint: Chronic plantar heel pain (plantar fasciitis), self-report
- CSelf-reportDevice or therapy · Network meta-analysis of randomized trials plus small sham-controlled trials, mixedEndpoint: Temporomandibular disorder pain (mixed: pooled analysis favorable, sham-controlled trials null)
- CMeasured functionDevice or therapy · Randomized controlled trialEndpoint: Cognition / vascular (2.0 ATA or higher, 100% oxygen)
- CDevice or therapy · Meta-analyses of sham-controlled trials, inconsistent; one 2026 sham trialEndpoint: Knee osteoarthritis pain, self-reported, short term
- CSurrogate biomarkerDevice or therapy · Randomized trials and meta-analyses of randomized trialsEndpoint: Bone mineral density (surrogate, objective)
- CMeasured functionDevice or therapy · Systematic review of randomized trialsEndpoint: Cognition (limited human evidence)
- CDevice or therapy · Randomized sham-controlled trials and meta-analyses, inconsistentEndpoint: Depressive symptoms in major depression on blinded clinician-rated scales (HAM-D, MADRS), mixed
- CSurrogate biomarkerDevice or therapy · Randomized controlled trialsEndpoint: Cardiovascular / endothelial (surrogate + functional)
- CDevice or therapy · Systematic review / meta-analysis of randomized trialsEndpoint: Stress at 12 hours, sleep quality and quality of life (self-report)
- DSelf-report · Tested, no benefitDevice or therapy · Sham-controlled RCTs Randomized controlled trial: people are assigned to the treatment or a comparison by chance, so the groups differ only in what they received. It is the design that can show cause and effect. + meta-analyses of randomized trialsEndpoint: ADHD symptoms in children and adolescents (self-report, blinding-sensitive)
Measurement equipment
Not graded: a measurement is not a treatment. Each page covers what the instrument measures and how well.
- Not gradedDevice or therapy · Device-validation studies (measurement accuracy)Endpoint: Agreement with four-compartment reference models, and same-day repeat precision
- Not gradedDevice or therapy · Device-validation studies (measurement accuracy)Endpoint: Agreement with DXA bone density, and whether the result reflects the bone or the inputs
- Not gradedDevice or therapy · Device-validation studies (measurement accuracy)Endpoint: Agreement with cardiopulmonary exercise testing as the reference method, including verification-phase confirmation
- Not gradedDevice or therapy · Device-validation studies (measurement accuracy)Endpoint: Agreement with laboratory metabolic carts
- Not gradedDevice or therapy · Device-validation studies (measurement accuracy)Endpoint: Test-retest reliability and agreement between dynamometers under a standardized protocol
- Not gradedDevice or therapy · Device-validation studies (measurement accuracy)Endpoint: Agreement with DXA and four-compartment reference methods
- Not gradedDevice or therapy · Risk-prediction studies (measurement value)Endpoint: Added value over standard risk factors for predicting heart attack and stroke
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