Helmholtz coils for PEMF applications
A while ago we were contacted by a doctor who understood very well about field lines in electromagnetic coils. This doctor was actually using a PEMF device which came with 2 coils each with a 2" diameter and he was under the impression that the electromagnetic field lines were penetrating the area between the two opposite placed PEMF coils with a homogeneous (read: an evenly spread) field intensity, independent of the distance between them.
He was wondering if this could be true because he did not understand how this was possible because changing the distance between the two coils should also change the field lines behavior?
A German scientist by the name of Helmholtz designed a device to produce an almost uniformly electromagnetic field by placing two coils opposite to each other under specific mechanical and electrical conditions.
Taking advantage of this doctors' question it was explained to him that he was correct and only under specific conditions the so called Helmholtz configuration can be obtained and working with two PEMF coils with relative small diameters will only cover half the distance of each coil diameter between them to obtain an uniform PEMF electromagnetic field.
Because he wanted not only treat smaller body parts of his patients, like fingers and hands, but also larger body parts like arms, legs or even stomach, he reasoned that he needed a system with large coil diameters in order to be able to treat the whole area between the coils with the same electromagnetic field intensity, which is only possible by using a Helmholtz configuration.
The communications resulted in manufacturing for him a very special PEMF coil set-up which worked beautifully in pure Helmholtz configuration. The generated electromagnetic field lines were now going through the complete stomach of the patient with the same intensity! Here follows some explanations on how this works.
In the picture at the left side there are 2 coils which are are wired in series. This means that the electrical current from the source goes into the first coil, comes out, then goes into the second coil in the same direction, comes out and returns to it's source. The resulting magnetic field lines leave the coil perpendicular (= at a right angle to the coils) in the direction of the line marked X.
However if we want to obtain an evenly spread electromagnetic field where the intensity is completely equal between the whole area between the two coils certain conditions must be met.
The distance between the two coils must be equal to half of the diameter of the coils, see the red arrows at the right.
This explains why it is impossible that an even field can be obtained when using two 2" coils opposite to each other if the distance is more than half the diameter of a coil. Then the electromagnetic field distribution is already disturbed when the distance in between 2" coils is more than one inch!
How to obtain an evenly spread PEMF intensity through the body is shown in the picture at the left side.
The area between the two coils (between the tips of the two green arrows) is equal in intensity because the field lines are now traveling straight between both coils. Having said this however we need a distance between the coils of at least 9 inches, which in turn requires coil diameters of at least 18 inch! Remember the red arrows above?
This not only requires a very large coil area but also sufficient power to be able to "bridge" the distance between these two coils. To generate the amount of power required for such large coils we need a strong electrical current, which in turn requires a very powerful pulsed electromagnetic PEMF generator.
So how did our company solve these problems? We created two separate 20 x 28" therapy pads (1.5" thick) with color coded top and bottom sides. Each pad contains a very large flat PEMF coil and both are now connected in series to the very powerful Curatron PEMF 3D device.
The result can be seen in the picture above at the right side. The pulsed electromagnetic field has anintensity of more than 400 Gauss equally spread over the whole area between the coils. Place e.g. one pad on top of the belly and the other one under the spine and you have the ultimate PEMF therapy!
I think the Helmholtz configuration works excellently to provide a more uniform signal from top to bottom.
I tried the Curatron myself 4-5 days/week for two months. While using it, I noticed I seemed to be more positive minded, and felt temporarily "better" in a difficult to define way. I theorized that the communication pathways in my body were being unblocked, and perhaps this accounted for my feeling less discouraged, more encouraged, and more that things are going to work out okay.
I appreciate your efforts to provide an excellent device for people to try for their health needs. I think your equipment is fantastic in quality and function. When my brother first got his Curatron, I took my Gauss meter to his house and was able to measure the signal of the pulsing magnetic field 13 feet away from the coils. I was very impressed!
