A form of physical therapy or medical treatment that uses electrical current or high-frequency electromagnetic waves to generate heat deep within body tissues for therapeutic purposes.
From Greek 'dia-' (through) + 'thermē' (heat), directly borrowed into English medical terminology in the early 20th century as doctors sought to apply heat therapeutically.
Before microwave ovens existed, diathermy machines taught physicists and doctors about using electromagnetic radiation to heat things from the inside out—essentially, early industrial diathermy was doing the same thing your microwave does, just for medical purposes on human tissue.
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