In the early 1970s, influenced by McLean and Urist’s admonition that “more reliance should be placed upon the primordial power of the human skeleton to regenerate injured and missing substance,” Becker explored the clinical implications of the electrical control system with regard to stimulating regenerative healing in man. He viewed the approach as a possible alternative to prosthetic implantation, which was then undergoing rapid expansion in use in orthopedic surgery. His approach to the use of electromagnetic energy for the promotion of healing differed markedly from that of other prominent orthopedists, who he felt were using levels of electrical energy in clinical treatment that had not been tested sufficiently in laboratory and animal studies and might be too high for purposes of safety and effectiveness.

Using currents far smaller than those employed by other orthopedists who were using electrical methods, he conducted laboratory experiments to evaluate both the mechanism of action and the effectiveness of the technique for particular applications, especially osteomyelitis. In subsequent clinical applications he developed the use of anti-infective silver electrodes to improve the healing process, and described his clinical technique in a textbook. He remained concerned that the potential side-effect of the clinical use of electromagnetic energy had not been studied sufficiently.