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Magnetic fields as a therapeutic agent have been widely recognized for over two thousand years and have been found in the earliest writings of China, Egypt, India and Greece. Modern scientific investigations are substantiating the benefits of magnetic therapy and have even shown that the polarity and strength of the magnetic field can be critical in effective treatment. Magnetic devices with therapeutic claims are often sold without validation and can either be completely ineffective or possibly harmful as a result of the magnetic materials used in their manufacture. Until now, the end user has had to take the word of these suppliers that their products meet the minimum basic requirements to produce a therapeutic effect. The MpD (Magnetic Pole Detector) is the original and only device commercially available to magnetic therapy users that will easily and conveniently validate the polarity and strength of the magnetic fields emitted by therapeutic jewelry and other devices.
You Owe it to Yourself to Test Before You Use Magnetic Therapy!
General Information about the MpD
Several months ago a package with only our address on the label arrived at our home. It contained a small assortment of jewelry; however none of the pieces looked like the style that I was used to seeing on my wife; so, I assumed that she had purchased them for a friend as a present. To my surprise, she claimed them as her own.
Over the last few months she had been having some problems with soreness in her left wrist and having little success with the doctor’s suggested remedies; she was anxious to try magnetic therapy rather than spend another long afternoon under the examination of a specialist. Since the discomfort appeared to be only an inconvenience at this point, I saw no reason to discourage her from trying magnetic therapy and the effectiveness of magnetic therapy did arouse my curiosity.
I have worked as a design engineer and product development specialist in the medical industry for over 30 years and had never run into the application of magnetic fields for therapeutic remedies other than diagnostic equipment like MRIs; so, I began reading some of the published articles on the healing power of magnetic fields.
There are two consistent points made by the promoters of magnetic therapy products: first, the magnetic field must be strong enough to be effective, and second, the polarity of the field can be critical. In fact several articles strongly suggest that research has proven that the application of the wrong field polarity can actually do harm.
According to several articles like "Curing With Magnets" the negative magnetic field or the filed at the North Pole of a magnet is the one to use for therapy. It calms the body and is believed to expand capillaries resulting in increased blood and oxygen to the area. The filed from the opposite South Pole, reportedly stresses the body and can be dangerous with long-term exposure. The articles also stress that only doctors should apply the positive pole to their patients for special treatments.
Magnetic
North Pole:
Calms the body
Neutralizes pH
Increases oxygen
Reduces cellular swelling
Magnetic
South Pole:
Stresses the body
Increases acidity
Reduces oxygen
Increases cellular swelling
I was fortunate to have an industrial instrument in my workshop that was designed specifically to measure the strength and polarity of a constant magnetic field; I have used this device many times in evaluating other medical instruments and was familiar with its reliability and accuracy. After placing the instrument’s sensor tip near the supposedly active elements of the jewelry, I discovered that some of the pieces had either a very weak field or had no magnetic properties at all. Other pieces showed a reasonably strong field but of the polarity that reportedly could be harmful.
After researching the origin of the jewelry, I found that most of it was manufactured outside of the United States and I was sorely familiar with some of the quality control problems from my experience in specifying and purchasing components used in manufacturing industries.
I am not qualified to argue the medicinal benefits of Magnetic Therapy or the potential harm resulting from too weak or incorrect field polarity; however, I decided that if my wife believed in the therapeutic benefits then I owed it to her to at least assure that the product was properly manufactured. We returned the questionable products and after a few weeks received replacements.
In
my research I was surprised to discover that there is a very large market for
magnetic therapy devices; and many of these products make, or suggest, claims
that can not be tested or verified by the average consumer. If someone invests
their money in magnetic devices claiming to have therapeutic value, it seems
reasonable that they would want to have a simple and inexpensive way to verify
that the product would meet the minimum published requirements for effective
therapy. Consequently, I decided to develop a product for the general public
that would be small, easy to use, and inexpensive; this product is called the
MpD (Magnet Pole Detector).
At the heart of the MpD is a pair of integrated circuits, about the size of a grain of pepper, that contain sensors uniquely sensitive to the presence of magnetic fields; one specifically for north magnetic fields and one for south magnetic fields.
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image to enlarge)
These sensors are based on a theory developed in 1879; which basically states that when electricity flows in a path perpendicular to a magnetic field, a new electrical field will be created perpendicular to both the flow of electricity and the magnetic field. A complex configuration of electronic components is constructed around each magnetic sensing element inside of the sensor integrated circuits to accurately and reliably measure this electrical field and compare it to preset references. Each time the MpD button is pressed the instrument is awakened from its standby mode to test the accuracy of the sensors (indicated by 3 to 4 rapid flashes from both pole indicator lights); any magnetic field with a strength greater than 30 gauss at the bottom surface of the MpD case will cause either the north or south indicator light to continue flashing. This extremely sensitive and accurate instrument was designed for simplicity of operation. It is easily capable of detecting much weaker magnetic fields; however, the purpose of the MpD is to validate the polarity and field strength of potentially therapeutic products.
The MpD is powered by a self contained Li-MnO2 (Lithium Manganese Dioxide) power
cell. Lithium batteries are used throughout the medical industry to power long
term, critical devices such as artificial pace makers and other implantable
devices. The cell sealed within the MpD case has sufficient energy to power
the device for over 2 years of continuous use.*
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*
Continuous use means testing the magnetic polarity of a sample once every 15
minutes for 8 hours each day.
The MpD was designed for single button ease of use and reliability. On the top of the case there is a single button activated by pressing either of two soft pads depending on how you choose to hold the device. When either pad is pressed and a gentle pressure is maintained both of the Pole Indicator Lights will flash three or four times while the internal circuits are tested. While keeping pressure on the pad move the MpD over the magnet to be tested so that the “DOT” between the Pole Indicator Lights is directly over the magnet. As you approach the magnet either the North Pole Light or the South Pole Light will flash as long as the magnetic field strength is greater than 30 Gauss.
(Click
Image to Enlarge)
The MpD was created by a Johns Hopkins University engineer with over 20 years experience in the development of medical monitoring and detection devices for the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the commercial medical industry including Becton Dickinson. The uniqueness and effectiveness of his inventions resulted in the award of more than 28 patents in the United States and other countries. Many of the disciplines and knowledge acquired over the last two decades in both the engineering and medical sciences have been used in the development of the MpD to assure quality in design and manufacture.