Wireless Microcurrent Stimulation

[quantum82]

Hi all,

I came across a device named: Wireless Microcurrent Stimulation used in medical applications and more particularly in wound healing. I am just trying to understand how the device works from an electromagnetic engineering perspective.

More details: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7950994/
https://www.wetlinghealth.com/wp/wireless-micro-current-stimulation-wmcs/

1. Does it radiate an electromagnetic field? If yes, does it induce the current of injury via a DC electric field?
2. If it's a DC electric field, then it must be an electrostatic type of charge.

I would appreciate anyone's thoughts on this one.

Thanks
G

 

[Baluncore]

Welcome to PF.

The instrument appears to "illuminate" the wound with ionised atmospheric molecules from a non-contact ion generator. The ion generator may be an enclosed short wavelength UV lamp, or a high voltage air discharge.

1. Does it radiate an electromagnetic field?

There is no radio frequency EM involved. It is wireless because the wound site has no contact electrode.

2. If it's a DC electric field, then it must be an electrostatic type of charge.

The wrist-strap ground-reference is the only conductive contact. The potential of the ion generator is selected to electrostatically drive a greater proportion of the ions to the wound site.

 

[TonyStewart]

Hi all,

I came across a device named: Wireless Microcurrent Stimulation used in medical applications and more particularly in wound healing. I am just trying to understand how the device works from an electromagnetic engineering perspective.

More details: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7950994/
https://www.wetlinghealth.com/wp/wireless-micro-current-stimulation-wmcs/

1. Does it radiate an electromagnetic field? If yes, does it induce the current of injury via a DC electric field?
2. If it's a DC electric field, then it must be an electrostatic type of charge.

I would appreciate anyone's thoughts on this one.

Thanks
G

TL:DR
Yes it is a DC current of some polarity generated by a repetitive spark arc on a short sharp pin that ionized the air with power RGB LEDs with current measurements being unspecified, how, where and what.

It would most certainly generate an Electric Field if an electric current is generated but little is known about the transfer function of the uA current measurement.
This is the device used in your article by a company in Denmark.

All I know is that it generates light with RGB LEDs in the datasheet with some unknown quantity of ionized air.

This is copied from one of their patents.
"[0044] The ionized gas molecules (also termed "air ions") are hence conveniently provided from a gas ion transmittingdevice, which includes a gas ion generator (also known as an "air ionizer"). This type of device is known to the skilledperson and is e.g. used in the semiconductor industry to counteract electrostatic charge building when handling andtransporting microchips and wafers. However, a suitable gas ion transmitting device for use in the present invention isone which, apart from generating the ions, is capable of delivering a directed stream of gas ions having either a predominant positive or a predominant negative charge (where e.g. the devices used in the semiconductor industry typicallydeliver a balanced mixture of positive and negative ions).[0045] In brief, such an apparatus generates a high voltage applied to an electrode, which thus produces an electricfield that is most intense in a defined region (e.g. immediately adjacent a sharply pointed tip). The intense electric fielddisrupts the normal charge state of molecules of air gases (e.g. nitrogen and oxygen) in the region adjacent to the sharplypointed tip and some of the molecules become negative or positive ions, depending upon whether the molecule attainsan excess or a deficiency of electrons (typically oxygen will become negatively charged, whereas nitrogen will becomepositively charged). The ions having a polarity opposite from the polarity of the high voltage of the electrode are attractedto the electrode and are neutralized, whereas ions of the same polarity as the high voltage electrode are repelled by theelectrode and are dispersed outwardly. The subsequent projection towards the treated object with the thus generatedair ions can be controlled when the receiving object is connected to a discharge electrode of opposite or neutral polarity(i.e. a ground electrode), which will ensure a correct projection of the ionized gas molecules in the desired directiontowards the target area. Also, such a discharge electrode can be equipped with an amperemeter or other device formeasuring the current passing through the electrode whereby the dosage of the ionized gas molecules can be controlledby a feedback mechanism where gas ion generation and projection is controlled in response to the current passingthrough the discharge electrode (i.e. if the current exceeds a preselected current, the amount of gas ions projected bythe ionized gas transmitting device is downregulated, and vice versa)."

Anecdotal
I have been aware of the selective benefitial healing effects of Electrical Stimulation (ES) via Electric Fields (E-fields or EF) and conductive microcurrents in DC, AC and pulse for about 100 yrs of research going back to Rife (pulsed UV) machines to modern $5k hand-held 50W IR pulsed laser acupuncture tools. PhotoElectric effects are an effective tool used by specialists in skin lack of pigment and many other biological endogenic treatments.

Far more is written on the cellular responses to various tissues and very little on the electric properties of Spectral Density, Transfer function, Threshold and Range of spectral excitation, Carrier and Modulation spectrum demodulation explanations of FM to AM to baseband to cellular response mechanisms. This is a broad dynamic subject and although this single article begs simple answers, the more comprehensive, related question reveals more significant answers. A common theme is clear. Low levels of ES have significant positive healing effects.

The commercial link related to your publication is below, although I cannot validate its operation, I can judge from the datasheet and the company patent.

https://www.wetlinghealth.com/wp/wireless-micro-current-stimulation-wmcs/

Thousands of articles per year are written in scientific journals summarized by Google Scholar or Microsoft Academic are limited only but your critical awareness and choice of keywords to describe them as the authors are not consistent as you might expect and depend on their historical connections and field of expertise. e.g. The topic might be Endogenous Progress in Cancer Treatments (Endo- meaning internal and Exo- meaning outside such as drugs) or ECT for Depression Treatment or EMS or fEMS etc. Covering a different mode of Electric Field transmission into the human dielectric for specific types of healing.
View attachment 328906

MDPI
Endogenous and Exogenous

This year on ES there were over 400 relevant articles such as this one on electric stimulating clothing.

It is not limited to DC and 100 GHz but also may be expanded to the higher spectrum of "wireless" i.e. optical and Infrared (IR) and far IR (FIR) used in Japan for healing but in China, it was called Mineral Therapy Lamp (5~25 um) because the variety of minerals e.g. Germanium clay were used as a phosphor wavelength conversion to a longer wavelength for much deeper penetration than the surface absorption of standard IR heaters. Humans also generate (~250W) and absorb FIR readily and adapt different mechanisms to regulate body temperature which is commonly enjoyed by long-living Swedes who alternate between icy waters and saunas for stimulating healthy vitality almost as much as all Acupuncture doctors who use the same Mineral Lamp that I got in San Francisco, one of the first available in the late 80's from Dr. Liu who promoted the lamp in a trade show.

Another common tool used in modern Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is laser acupuncture which is high-power pulsed IR. Here below is used in Cancer treatment with nanoparticle carriers.

There is an overwhelming volume of official publications on the cellular benefits of ES and Photo Stimulation. I suspect the lack of central review and the complexity of the experimental results and the human biological response might make some of this look like quackery. This view might seem plausible for the experimental failures yet most reputable NIH studies show some significant beneficial results of damaged tissue area improvements. So it is sanctioned for some treatments by governing bodies, while research continues in other areas.

 

[TonyStewart]

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This product, if it generates ions by detonating air with HVDC pulses in a repetitive almost silent low arc current will produce major RF interference (RFI) or as we call it now EMI for the E & H field properties on the term electromagnetic. I measured one to cure a production line stopped in the 80s outside a Class 100 clean room for HDD servo writer which caused random defects in the disk drives and I traced the problem the same day to a HV deionized that our Facility Eng. Mgr installed to achieve our goal of class 10. The number represents the limit of particles per cubic foot or p/cu.ft. or ppcf. above a microscopic size like 0.1um measured by a Laratrol 16-channel laser particle counter and the particles always increase in quantity with the bin size reduction. (This is why they say you have more virus particles in you than stars in the sky) The problem being the RF spectrum of an HV discharge is a broadband spectrum due to the tiny sub-nanosecond discharge time with low capacitance and low arc resistance and negative incremental resistance of the ionization or detonation of air process. The EMI in this case was from alternating HVDC pulses to deionize the dust and fall to the ground rather than polar ionize to release ozone and oxygen. The concentration of Ozone reduces with current which is why Photocopy machines with slow ramped HVDC voltages and current limits are designed to reduce drum discharge current of charged carbon copies and thus produce far less ozone, unlike the familiar smell of 80s copy machines.

The familiar FFT waveform of a repetitive pulse generator for an ion or deionized will have a null at the half-wavelength of the loop antenna length to and from the HVDC path to the pin arc. The DC component is missing in deionizers which alternate every second or xx ms to allow for recharging of the HVDC just like a camera flash tube.

I isolated the HDD servowriter's failure to EMI outside the cleanroom window near the ceiling deionizer 5m away from the servo electronics which detected dibit errors due to synchronous detection of the interference pulse when reading to verify the dibit quality. I removed the deionized bar from its location, installed by my friendly Egyptian Facility Mgr and the production yield of >99% was restored the same day. Just another routine day in Test Engineering as Mgr at Burroughs.

http://www.falstad.com/fourier/

Nulls at the frequency = 1/T pulse width and multiples which for extremely low duty factors are broad band harmonics of the repetition rate well over 100 MHz unless the wire loop is large.