4

Bioelectromagnetism

TABLE 1.1 Important Events in the History of Bioelectromagnetism

1493

Paracelsus – medical treatment with magnet as vital stones

1600

Gilbert – De Magnete

1786

Galvani – animal electricity from frog experiment

1793

Volta – Volta’s pile

1830

Faraday – Induction law

1849

Du Bois-Reymond – medical application of induction coil

1864

Maxwell – the electromagnetic feld theory

1891

Tesla and d’Arsoval – medical application of high-frequency current

1896

D’Arsonval – magnetophosphenes

l925

Schliephake – medical application of shortwave

1953

Yasuda – piezoelectricity of bone

1959

Collin – magnetic stimulation of nerves

1960

Human health efect of ELF electric feld

1962

Bassett – electric stimulation of bone fracture

1979

Human health efects of ELF magnetic feld

1985

Barker – magnetic motor co1tex stimulation

1988

Ueno – magnetic stimulation of the fgure-eight coil

2000

Human health efect of high-frequency feld

2003

MRI medical application

theory by Maxwell and its formulation by Oliver Heaviside, the existence of the electromagnetic wave

was discovered experimentally by Heinrich Rudolf Hertz in 1888. Maxwell equations are a set of four

equations which describe an electromagnetic wave: Gauss’s law, Gauss’s law for magnetism, Faraday’s

law and Ampère’s law. In 1897, using electromagnetic waves, Guglielmo Marconi was able to send radio

transmission signals to a tugboat at a distance over 18 miles (29 km) from the Bristol Channel, England.

In 1899, Marconi sent the frst international wireless message from Dover, England, to Wimereux,

France. Within 4 years, he sent a wireless message across the Atlantic Ocean. Tese historical events

opened a new era for the use of electromagnetic waves.

Table 1.1 shows the discovery timeline and other important events in the history of bioelectromag­

netism. Tey are divided into theory, instrumentation, stimulation and measurement in the feld of the

interactions between electromagnetic phenomena and the living body. Fundamental research studies

on the medical application of magnetic phenomena were promoted, as seen by the magnetic stimula­

tion of the nerve and the development of techniques used in clinical applications. As shown in Table 1.1,

the history of bioelectromagnetism is nearly identical to that of electromagnetism. Tis means that the

instrumentation based on bioelectromagnetic phenomena was quickly developed. Tese instruments

were able to measure both electric and magnetic signals in biological systems.

Afer the frst electromagnetic experiments on biological systems were conducted during the course

of the nineteenth century, electromagnetism and bioelectromagnetism share the same long research

history. Since then, what is the interaction between electromagnetism and living organisms, how elec­

tromagnetism afects living organisms and how living organisms use electromagnetic information been

of interest to many scientists. Tese interests have led to numerous experiments and theoretical stud­

ies, and the concept of bioelectromagnetism was established through such research developments. Te

details of the history of bioelectromagnetism will be given in Chapter 2.

Although bioelectromagnetism has a long research history with help from electromagnetism, the

term “bioelectromagnetism” gained popularity in scientifc communities around 1980. Te time around

1980 was when the Bioelectromagnetics Society (BEMS) was founded. Te BEMS covers research related

to electromagnetic phenomena ranging from static felds through the radio frequency feld up to tera­

hertz frequencies and acoustic energy with biological systems.