Becker, Robert O. 2000. Effects of electrically generated silver ions on human cells and wound healing. Electro and Magnetobiology, 19(1), 1-19.

A method of producing local antibiotic effects by means of an iontophoretic technique using free silver ions has been evaluated in vitro and in vivo for more than two decades. The antibiotic properties of the technique have proved useful in both animal and human studies.

Beginning in 1973, in vitro studies demonstrated that such ions were an effective antibiotic with a very broad spectrum and favorable quantitative evaluations compared with synthetic antibiotics.

The failure of other nontoxic metal ions to produce a similar alteration with the same electrical parameters strongly indicates that the electrically generated silver ion is the agent responsible for the observed cellular changes"Healing rates in these wounds are significantly accelerated and are accompanied by enhanced healing of the bone, soft tissue, nerve, and skin, with replacement of missing tissues by histologically normal tissues"The responsible agent for these cellular effects is believed to be the electrically generated silver ion.