RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: The Driver Resonator is a registered electro-medical device used by a number of medical health professionals. The device was developed for the elimination and/or reduction of pathogens by means of electrical impulses to the human body. There is currently no evidence available to determine the direct effect of the frequencies of the Driver Resonator on specific pathogens. METHODOLOGY: A growth curve was constructed to determine three different growth phases of Candida albicans. Using data obtained from the growth curve, C. albicans cells were harvested during the selected growth phases and treated with the Driver Resonator at a frequency of 385 kHz. The cells were treated for 10 minutes at time intervals of 0, 2, and 4 hours, and samples were taken after each treatment to determine the number of viable cells. To investigate the effect that nutrients might have on the cells' ability to recover after treatment, the Driver Resonator treatment was applied to cells suspended in nutrient broth as well as cells suspended in phosphate-buffered saline. RESULTS: The Driver Resonator had no significant effect on C. albicans cell viability and recovery in the absence or presence of nutrients when the cells were in the mid-exponential, late-exponential, and stationary phases of growth. CONCLUSION: These results support further testing of the starting cell concentration and the effect this might have on the efficiency of Driver Resonator. It should be remembered that the human body is a complex system. The electrodes of the Driver Resonator were specifically adapted for this study by the manufacturer to test the effect of the equipment on the C. albicans and not the human body. The laboratory results may not accurately reflect the results that might occur when the prescribed frequency is applied to the human body as the Driver Resonator is intended to do.