As Baseball Season Begins With New Rules, ZetrOZ Systems’ sam Technology is Critical for Mitigating Injury Risk

TRUMBULL, Conn., April 28, 2023 (Newswire.com) - Baseball is back, which means balls and strikes, hits and homers - and hamstring injuries. Studies show baseball's most common injury, hamstring tendon tears, is more prevalent in the season's first weeks, as is a common elbow injury. And this spring, both could become more frequent as rule changes reduce players' recovery time between pitches and plays. One way to mitigate the risks of these injuries is ZetrOz Systems' sustained acoustic medicine sam® device, which effectively treats soft-tissue injuries and can help players stay on the diamond.  

The ZetrOZ sam® X1 and 2.0 devices are the only FDA-cleared wearable ultrasound units approved for daily home use. The low-intensity, long-duration ultrasound technology expedites the injury healing process without invasive surgery or potentially addictive painkillers and is clinically proven by more than 40 studies to reduce pain and improve function. 

"We work with medical professionals nationwide, from orthopedic surgeons to athletic trainers, and they have used sam® to successfully treat thousands of professional and amateur athletes," said Dr. George Lewis, founder and CEO of ZetrOZ Systems. "We know those injuries are more likely to occur at the start of a season, especially in baseball, and our technology can help mitigate risk and improve healing of those injuries."   

Several studies document the prevalence of injuries early in a season. A 2019 study in The Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine used six years of Major League Baseball's own injury tracking database to examine trends in hamstring injuries, which it found was the most common injury in baseball.

"In various professional sports leagues (NFL, NBA, MLB), hamstring strains have been found to occur earlier in the season. Our study found similar results, with the highest number of hamstring sprains in April and May," the authors reported. "These factors may have an association with poor conditioning at the start of the season." 

About 40 percent of hamstring injuries occur in April and May, the analysis found. The rate of hamstring strains in Major League Baseball increased from one injury every 39 games in 2011 to one in every 30 games in 2016, with a similar trend in minor league baseball.  

The pattern was the same in injuries to the elbow's ulnar collateral ligament (UCL), according to a 2021 report from the Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery, with April and May as peak months for UCL injuries. They also found that injuries within the first 90 days of the season were more severe, more commonly requiring surgery to repair them.

"Throwing athletes may have increased risk for an elbow injury at the start of the season because they have not attained midseason levels of muscle strength and endurance," the authors wrote. They also found that pitchers' shoulders had less range of motion early in the season, likely making them more vulnerable to injury. 

Some observers fear injuries will be more common this year, with Major League Baseball now using a pitch clock that requires pitchers to throw to the batter within 15 seconds, or 20 seconds with a runner on base. That means pitchers have less recovery time between pitches, and batters have less recovery from swings or from running out foul balls. 

A 2016 study in the Journal of Sports Science modeled the effects of the shorter rest period on pitching. The authors found that players would have more fatigue in the forearm muscles that stabilize the elbow, "increasing strain on the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) and possibly increasing injury risk." 

Treatment with ZetrOZ's sam® technology effectively treats injuries to tendons of the leg, elbow and other areas of the body. Among many studies demonstrating the system's efficacy, a 2015 level 4 clinical study by sports medicine experts at The Ohio State University and Duke University found sustained acoustic medicine delivered via ZetrOZ's sam® reduced pain and improved strength in patients' medial/lateral elbow tendons and Achilles' tendons.  

Sustained acoustic medicine works by increasing blood vessel diameters to improve blood flow. That increases oxygenated hemoglobin at the site of the therapy and removes cytokine enzymes and cellular waste, with a result of more rapid healing and reduced pain. 

"We know from our relationships with trainers across professional and college sports, as well physicians treating recreational athletes, that sam® heals athletes' soft-tissue injuries more rapidly and helps players stay on the field or return to it more quickly," Lewis said. "As baseball season begins and teams adapt to this new environment, sam® is available to help players stay healthy and on the diamond doing what they love." 

ZetrOZ Systems' sam® technology was developed in part with funding from the National Institute of Health, National Science Foundation, Department of Defense and NASA. ZetrOZ Systems products are designed and manufactured in the United States and are protected by 46 U.S. patents.  

To learn more, visit www.samrecover.com.

About ZetrOZ Systems 

ZetrOZ Systems is leading healing innovations in sports medicine, developing wearable bioelectronic devices for the delivery of sustained acoustic medicine (sam®). Researched and funded by the federal government, ZetrOZ is built on the proprietary medical technology of +46 patents and is the exclusive manufacturer and developer of the sam® product line, which is designed for the treatment of acute and chronic musculoskeletal conditions.