I decided to start with this parameter because the intensity of pulsing magnetic fields, generated by PEMF devices, is one of the most crucial specifications in order to obtain successful results.
Magnetic field intensity or magnetic field strength is defined in Tesla (symbol T) and named after the scientist Nikola Tesla. It is also known as "magnetic flux density" or "magnetic induction". In the past magnetic field strength was also expressed in Gauss (symbol G) which number is 10.000 times larger than Tesla.
Since intensity is very relevant for pulsed electromagnetic field therapy devices, and because very often confusion exists between micro Tesla and milli Tesla (milli is a factor 1000 x larger than micro), hereunder is a table showing the differences between these values. Some manufacturers write mTesla in order to confuse the reader, but the correct scientific way for use of these symbols is mT for milli Tesla and μT for micro Tesla.
 In 1956 two Japanese scientists discovered the so called piezo-electric effect of bones. By mechanically bending a bone and measuring an electrical voltage between two electrodes attached over the bone, they proved that electrical properties exist inside bones.
An example of the piezo electric effect is your own alarm clock. Your clock contains a piezo crystal with an electrical connection at both sides. When your clock reaches the preset wake-up time, an oscillating electrical voltage is applied to the crystal causing small mechanical movements and resulting in the sound you hear.
When a pulsing magnetic field penetrates into a bone the opposite effect takes place. The pulsing magnetic effects cause tiny mechanical movements, resulting in small electrical currents inside the bones and cells. These micro currents are responsible for the beneficial effects occurring inside the body and if the intensities of the pulsing magnetic fields are too low to sufficiently penetrate deep inside the body, no effect will take place!
The only way to prove if the field indeed completely penetrates the body is to check if it is still possible to detect a pulsing magnetic field at the opposite side of the body. E.g. if the field is applied at the back it must be possible to show its existence still at the chest, otherwise it can never penetrate deep enough into the body!
The human body is unable to feel the magnetic pulses themselves but only the effects they cause. You can, however, easily detect a sufficiently strong pulsed magnetic field by holding a static magnet in your hand above the applicator containing the coils. You can now clearly feel the pulses in your hand with exactly the same pulse repetition rate (frequency) generated by the device. This effect happens because the pulsing magnetic fields distort the static magnetic field of the magnet, resulting in the pulsing movements you can now easily feel in your hand.  Claiming that weak natural magnetic fields work better than stronger fields is not only pure scientific nonsense but also clearly misleading.  Attempts are made to scare potential customers by misquoting the World Health Organization who indicates magnetic field strengths for continuous magnetic fields, e.g. radiated by power lines. People making this claim clearly have no clue about the differences between a continuous magnetic field and a pulsed electromagnetic field, which only have in common the words ‘magnetic field’!
A micro Tesla device has the same intensity as an air-conditioner, fridge, mixer etc. and offer not more than a placebo effect. PEMFT devices only able to generate low intensity fields (in the micro Tesla range) require very sensitive electronic magnetic field detectors in order to show that some magnetic field is actually generated at all, for this field cannot be detected otherwise. These magnetic field strengths are unable to penetrate into the body more than an inch as becomes clear by the following explanation.
 This means that if you have a specific field strength directly at the surface of the pad (red in the picture to the left) and you move away from the pad, the magnetic field strength drops fast. If the separation distance increases by a factor of 2, the field strength decreases by a factor of 4. If the separation distance increases by a factor of 3, the field strength decreases by a factor of 9. If the separation distance increases by a factor of 4 the field strength decreases by a factor of 16! This becomes clear when we look at the picture: Through the lowest yellow area passes all the energy because it is close to the pad. When we double the distance away from the pad just 25% of the energy passes through a similar yellow area. Now double the distance again and see how little of the original energy passes through a similar yellow area at the top of the picture (around 11%). This explains why it is crucial to have sufficient pulsed magnetic energy available from the beginning, otherwise it will do nothing deep inside the body, which is absolutely necessary for successful PEMF applications!
This is the reason why all different Curatron models manufactured by our company generate magnetic field strengths up to the milli Tesla range. This of course requires a much superior engineering design than PEMFT devices that are only able to generate low micro Tesla levels.
This is not only what we believe in, but it is also confirmed by numerous customers in more than 70 countries around the world, who altogether did more than 1,000,000 therapy sessions with the Curatron systems!
For the models controlled by our PC software the users can define the intensities for the field strengths themselves, even down into the micro Tesla range, in the rare case that they may want to use it exclusively for very superficial therapy purposes.
 Hall effect sensors are used, named after Edwin Hall, an American physicist, who invented the sensor.
Our company uses a laser calibrated linear Hall effect sensor for this purpose in order to obtain reliable measurement values.
After amplification of the electrical voltage generated by the Hall sensor, the detected signals are visualized on an instrument called oscilloscope, which shows the exact pulse forms, and the Tesla values are obtained. |