If you’ve been researching MBST, you’ve probably noticed something frustrating. Most of what you’ll find online reads like a brochure — heavy on cellular regeneration, light on the practical details you actually want before committing time and money to a course of treatment.
This guide is the other thing. What MBST is, where it came from, what happens in a session, who shouldn’t have it, and — importantly — what the research does and doesn’t currently show. Some of that is less emphatic than you’ll read elsewhere. We think you’d rather have it straight.
What is MBST?
MBST stands for Molecular Biophysical Stimulation. It’s a therapy system developed by the German company MedTec Medizintechnik GmbH, which began working on the technology in the late 1990s and has produced treatment devices under the MBST name since.
It’s a non-invasive, contact-free therapy. You don’t take anything, nothing enters the body, and there’s no injection or incision involved. You lie or sit with the affected area positioned inside or beside the device for the duration of the session.
How is MBST supposed to work?
The manufacturer describes MBST as using the physical principle of magnetic resonance — the same underlying physics as an MRI scanner — applied for therapeutic rather than imaging purposes.
The proposed mechanism is that hydrogen protons in the body’s tissues, which are abundant because we are largely water, absorb a small amount of energy under magnetic resonance conditions and release it again into the surrounding tissue. MedTec’s position is that this energy transfer is intended to stimulate cellular activity in the treated area.
It’s worth being precise here: this is the mechanism the manufacturer proposes. Laboratory work on cell cultures has explored these effects, and clinical research has looked at outcomes in patients. We cover what that research has found further down, because the gap between a proposed mechanism and a demonstrated clinical effect is exactly the thing most MBST pages skip over.
Is MBST the same as having an MRI scan?
No, and the differences matter.
An MRI scanner produces images. MBST produces no images at all — it isn’t a diagnostic device.
The field strengths are also in completely different territory. Published descriptions put the main magnetic field of MBST systems in the region of 0.4 to 2.35 millitesla, roughly ten thousand times weaker than a typical MRI scanner. That’s why MBST devices are silent, don’t require a shielded room, and feel like nothing at all — none of the noise, tunnel, or claustrophobia people associate with an MRI.
What actually happens during an MBST session?
Considerably less than most people expect, which is either reassuring or anticlimactic depending on your temperament.
You arrive, the relevant body part is positioned in the applicator, and the device runs its programme. A session typically lasts about an hour. You stay clothed. There is no heat, no tingling, no vibration, and no sound from the device. Most people read, listen to something, or doze.
Because the sessions are long and quiet, we’d suggest bringing headphones and something to occupy you, and allowing a little more time than the hour itself.
How long is a course of MBST?
MBST is delivered as a course rather than a one-off session, and the sessions run on consecutive days.
In the published clinical literature, treatment programmes have generally consisted of one hour daily, with most studies using courses of five, nine or ten consecutive days. Your clinic will advise on the specific programme relevant to your situation, but the practical implication is the same everywhere: you need to be able to commit to attending on consecutive days, usually including a full working week.
That’s a genuine logistical consideration and worth factoring in before you book anything.
Does MBST hurt? Are there side effects?
Sessions are painless. There is no sensation associated with the treatment itself beyond the mild discomfort of staying in one position for an hour.
On safety, the most rigorous study conducted to date — a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in patients with knee osteoarthritis — recorded no adverse events across the trial. Longer-term observational data collected across large numbers of patients has likewise not flagged significant safety concerns.
Who is MBST not suitable for?
This is where you should expect a proper screening conversation rather than a form.
Devices that generate electromagnetic fields normally require careful screening for cardiac pacemakers, implanted defibrillators, cochlear implants and other implanted electronic devices. Pregnancy is typically a contraindication. There may be others relevant to your circumstances, including certain implants, some medical conditions and some medications.
Any clinic offering MBST should be able to show you the manufacturer’s current list of contraindications and precautions, and should go through it with you properly before you book a course rather than on the day. If a clinic doesn’t do this, treat it as a red flag.
What does the research on MBST actually show?
Here’s the section most pages leave out, and the honest answer is: mixed, and less settled than the marketing implies.
A 2021 scoping review published in Radiography gathered the studies on magnetic resonance therapy in osteoarthritis. It found that across the included studies, results were generally positive for pain, joint function and quality of life. However, the review’s authors were explicit about the limitations: the studies generally lacked control groups, had small numbers of participants, and did not control for confounding factors such as participants’ medication. They concluded that more robust research was needed.
The strongest single piece of evidence available is a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial published in the European Journal of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine in 2016. Ninety-seven patients with mild-to-moderate knee osteoarthritis received either ten daily one-hour sessions of magnetic resonance therapy or a placebo version. Both groups improved. The size of that improvement was similar in both groups at two weeks and again at twelve weeks, and blinded ultrasound and MRI assessment found no significant difference in cartilage measures between them. The authors concluded that the therapy was safe, but not superior to placebo in that population.
It’s also relevant that the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority has stated it has not yet seen convincing evidence for the efficacy of MBST, and requires any clinic advertising it to hold robust evidence for claims made.
We’d rather you knew all of that before booking than after. MBST is an option some people choose to try; it is not an established, evidence-backed treatment in the way that, for example, therapeutic exercise is for osteoarthritis.
Does MBST replace physiotherapy, medication or surgery?
No. It shouldn’t be considered a substitute for any of them.
If you have osteoarthritis, osteoporosis or another diagnosed condition, that condition should be managed under the care of your GP or consultant, and NICE-recommended care — therapeutic exercise, weight management where relevant, and appropriate medication — remains the foundation. Nothing here should be taken as a reason to stop or delay treatment your doctor has recommended.
Where MBST is used, it’s used alongside that care, not instead of it.
Quick answers
How long is one MBST session? Around an hour.
How many sessions are in a course? Courses in the published literature have most commonly run for five, nine or ten consecutive days.
Does it hurt? No. There’s no sensation from the treatment itself.
Is it noisy like an MRI? No. MBST devices are silent.
Do I need a referral? No, you can contact us directly — but if you have a diagnosed condition, keep your GP or consultant informed.
Can I have it with a pacemaker? Implanted electronic devices normally require screening and are typically a contraindication. Speak to us before booking.
Is it available on the NHS? No. MBST is offered privately.
How would I know whether it had helped?
This deserves more thought than it usually gets, and it applies to any treatment you pay for.
Decide your measures before you start, and make them specific and external. Not “does my knee feel better” — that’s slippery, and it’s especially slippery when you’ve invested money and time in something. Instead: how far can you walk before you need to stop? How many stairs can you manage without holding the rail? How many nights a week does pain wake you? What have you stopped doing that you’d like to resume?
Write the answers down before your first session, and again a few weeks after the course finishes rather than the day it ends.
Two things worth bearing in mind while you interpret those numbers. Symptoms in conditions like osteoarthritis naturally fluctuate — flare-ups settle, good spells arrive, and people tend to seek treatment when things are at their worst, which means some improvement often follows regardless of what’s done. And in the placebo-controlled trial described above, the placebo group improved substantially too. Neither observation means an improvement isn’t real or isn’t worth having. Both are reasons to measure carefully rather than rely on impressions.
Come and talk it through first
We’d much rather have a conversation with you than take a booking from someone who isn’t sure what they’re signing up for.
MBST Blackpool, delivered by JAM Physio, offers a free discovery visit — no cost, no obligation, and no pressure to book anything.
It’s a straightforward conversation: you tell us what’s going on, we assess where you are, we go through the screening questions, and we’re honest with you about whether MBST is something worth considering in your case or whether your time and money would be better spent elsewhere. Sometimes the answer is the latter, and we’ll say so.
Get in touch today to arrange your free discovery visit.