At this writing in February 2019, while reading D. Berleants "The Human Race to the Future", reviewed here, my interest has been rekindled in Remote Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation.
A few years ago, to be specific, on or before Wednesday, March 1, 2006, I assembled a Permanent Magnet version of a Transcranial Magnetic Stimulator, which I named the vSignal I. I have a habit of prefixing my inventions with a letter vee to personalize them and ease the task of naming them.
I have recovered a report I produced after creating and using this simple device which is shown in top and bottom views in the pictures below. It was two strong magnets poled along their faces whose rotation should induce a mild electric field in conductive materials. My reasoning is that this was as safe and non-intrusive approach that could be approached gradually with low risk by closing the distance between the spinning red disk and the scalp.
I have attached a complete transcript of my 2006 experiment:
L. Van Warren <van@wdv.com>
Wed 3/1/2006 11:20 PM
Strong rare earth magnets were mounted in a red plastic lid with a separation of approximately 2" from pole to pole.
The magnets are half-moon type used to park the heads on disk drives. They require several pounds of separation force.
The magnets are attached to larger half moon metal plates and the plates are mounted so that they are captured by the lid in the event of a centrifugal failure.
The lid assembly was affixed to a drill shaft and spun in a reversible electric drill at peak speeds of 1800 RPM. With two magnets, this provides a peak pulse rate of approximately 60 Hz.
To do: measure the strength and polarization of the magnets.
Measure the rotation speed of the magnets.
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Clear polyester tape approximately 2" in width was affixed to the lid to cover the screw tops, which were countersunk into the lid to prevent catching in the hair.
After mounting in the drill, I spun the device and under my own power placed the spinning lid containing the magnets in close proximity to my left prefrontal cortex.
The sensation I noticed most strongly was warmth emanating from what felt like the center of my head. This warmth was accompanied by what can only be described as a slow and systematic clearing of the mind.
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I then mounted the device in a drill press with a long swing arm and configured the system so that I could sit under it while it rotated at various preprogrammed speeds.
Again the principle effects were a warming sensation and a preference for a position to the left of the corpus callosum and forward of the medial plane of the skull, but not in front.
I was observed in these experiments by Marilyn Fulper who neither encouraged nor discouraged the operation of the system.
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After placing Vaseline in my hair to reduce the changes of the lid catching, I sat under the drill press in various configurations for 10 to 15 minutes.
As time was running out, I then discontinued the experiment after exposing all surfaces of the top, front and back of my skull to the rotating magnets.
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As I exited the site I noticed a separation between memories of what I usually do when I leave.
1) I did not want to play my guitar. Usually I do as I leave.
2) I became objective, descriptive, and reporting with a more vivid than usual lexicon.
3) I became more fanciful in my thinking while looking at a sunset I considered what it would be like to have super powers.
Trees took on a dark and ominous appearance, and changes in lighting seemed more dramatic than usual.
4) On arriving home the effects continued for approximately another 15 minutes.
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This evening I repeated exposure to the magnets with similar results.
The principle effect I notice is a clearing of the mind and an warm sensation from the shoulder up.
Part of this could be the effect of holding the drill over my head for up to two minutes.
ccc,
- Van
Here we are nearly 13 years later and I wanted to try to improve the device I created originally. I had forgotten that I also mounted it in a drill press so that I could sit underneath it, as one sits in a hair dryer.
Following a query by Dr. Berleant I designed an improved rotor which would produce stronger pulses owing to the the stronger magnetization, and also by mounting the disk magnets, poled with respect to their faces in opposite north, south sequence.
A next step in developing this capability would be to develop an instrumented "Gel-Brain" Simulator to simulate the magnetic and electrical conductance effects of the human head. This would enable the strength, intensity and location of the stimulation could be better understood prior to exposure to human subjects, which would be yours truly in any initial outings.
Besides quantifying the amount of energy transferred to live tissue, this device could help rule out any placebo effects and confabulation seen in the transcript of my 2006 experiment.
The Gel-Brain would be equipped with small inductive loop coils made of 40 gauge varnished copper wire. These could measure both induced voltage and magnetic field strength. Embedded in the gel could also be small compasses and possibly LED lights connected to the inductive loops to show voltages.
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