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Innovative Medical Equipment, LLC Highlights Published VA Clinical Study on Thermal Therapy and Pain Treatment Utilization

The study, published in The March 2026 edition of Federal Practitioner, reported an association between thermal therapy use and reduced opioid and benzodiazepine utilization, as well as lower healthcare utilization in the patient population.

Innovative Medical Equipment, LLC (IME), manufacturer of the ThermaZone® thermal therapy device, announced the publication of a peer-reviewed retrospective cohort study involving 4,364 patients within the U.S. Veterans Health Administration with half using ThermaZone®. The study, published in The March 2026 edition of Federal Practitioner, reported an association between thermal therapy use and reduced opioid and benzodiazepine utilization, as well as lower healthcare utilization in the patient population.

ThermaZone® is a compact, iceless device that utilizes thermoelectric technology to provide heating and cooling therapy for pain management. Traditional ice packs or gel pads quickly lose cooling/heating capacity relative to ThermaZone® which maintains a consistent temperature (ranging from 34° to 125° F) for extended therapy sessions.

Clinical Study Findings: The study was conducted by investigators within the U.S. Veterans Health Administration who analyzed electronic health record data from veterans receiving thermal therapy. It compared 2,182 patients who received a ThermaZone® device with a matched control group of 2,182 patients receiving standard care only. In the retrospective analysis, patients receiving thermal therapy demonstrated:

  • A 26% reduction in high-dose opioid therapy days and a 43% reduction in the concurrent use of opioids and benzodiazepines days.
  • Decreases in specialty care visits, including a 33% reduction in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) encounters and a 16% reduction in Pain Clinic visits.

In separate voluntary patient surveys, 97% of patients recommended the device, with 64% reporting daily use to manage chronic pain, referencing ThermaZone’s ease-of-use and variety of head and orthopedic pads.

“Patient survey data from the past 10 years clearly indicated patients were using ThermaZone to reduce their reliance on opioids to treat their pain,” noted Brad Pulver, President of IME. “This study adds the clinical evidence that our patients, and the healthcare system at large, are benefiting from a non-opioid approach to post-surgical pain, chronic pain and headache pain management.”