mmm@weitek.UUCP (Mark Thorson) (10/16/85)
Has anyone else ever heard of electrosleep? Supposedly it is a method for tranquilizing via the use of a low frequency signal applied to electrodes on the neck. I have heard that it is widely used in Europe and the Soviet Union in lieu of drugs, but the FDA (or drug industry lobbying) has blocked its use here. Does the technique exist? What are the parameters of the signal used? Are there any side-effects? Do you have references to literature on the theory and use of the technique (I'd really like to get the manual for one of these machines)? Mark Thorson (...!cae780!weitek!mmm)
larry@kitty.UUCP (Larry Lippman) (11/03/85)
> Has anyone else ever heard of electrosleep? Supposedly it is a method for > tranquilizing via the use of a low frequency signal applied to electrodes > on the neck. I have heard that it is widely used in Europe and the Soviet > Union in lieu of drugs, but the FDA (or drug industry lobbying) has blocked > its use here. > > Does the technique exist? What are the parameters of the signal used? > Are there any side-effects? Do you have references to literature on the > theory and use of the technique (I'd really like to get the manual for one > of these machines)? I happened to have conducted some research studies with one of these devices in the late 60's when, as an EE, I held a research position at a medical school. The particular device was - believe it or not - manufactured by Hewlett-Packard as their 3380B Electroanesthesia Instrument. The device consisted of a dual sine wave - a fixed 100 Hz - plus a variable 700 Hz to 10 kHz. Maximum output current was 100 mA with a maximum open-circuit voltage of 100 volts RMS; although I never used the instrument to anywhere near full output power. This instrument was marketed by H-P as an experimental device NOT to be used for humans; it was considered to be suitable for veterinary clinical use. The particular studies I ran were on dogs (anti-vivisectionists send flames to /dev/null). The purpose of my evaluation was to see if this was a suitable device to be used for medical research studies on animals (to avoid using any chemically-induced anesthesia); if it appeared promising for that purpose, then there was to be some CAREFUL consideration for human use. There were two electrode schemes in use: (1) one metal electrode placed on the hard palate, with the other electrode held against the occiptal region of the scalp; (2) two subcutaneous needle electrodes placed in opposite temporal regions of the head. All of my studies were conducted using the latter method. Studies were conducted on about 15 dogs, with rather poor results. I won't go into details here - but that was a real trip since there was no anesthetic premedication used on the dogs. Some dogs would induce okay, while others never experienced any analgesia or anesthesia, irregardless of current setting or electrode placement. We used a physiological recording system after anesthesia was induced to record arterial pressure, venous pressure, intra- cranial presure, ECG, EEG, and cardiac output using dye injection. In addition, we took blood gases and pH. So the process was carefully studied and the data evaluated by several people. There were many undesireable side-effects in those dogs where anesthesia was induced including, but not limited to: excess salivation, bradycardia, reduced cardiac output, cardiac arrhythmias, etc. After the study, we concluded that the instrument was of no reliable value for animal anesthesia in a research environment, and certainly had a LONG way to go before human consideration. I have been out of the academic research environment since 1970, so I have lost touch with any current developments in electroanesthia. I will provide two literature references from my files: "Clinical Effects of Anesthesia Produced by Alternating Electrical Current" by C. E. Short, ``Journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society'', September-October 1965 "The Cardiovascular Effects of Cranially-Impressed Electric Currents of Anesthetic Intensity" by Wood, Powers, et al, ``Journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society'', May-June 1964 I will provide further information upon request, including a copy of the H-P sales literature (probably a collector's item by now :-) ). I have not kept current with developments in the field of electro- anesthesia, and do not claim to be an expert on the topic. However, I did have some firsthand experience once-upon-a-time, which is what I am sharing with the Net. === Larry Lippman @ Recognition Research Corp., Clarence, New York === === UUCP {decvax,dual,rocksanne,rocksvax,watmath}!sunybcs!kitty!larry === === VOICE 716/741-9185 {rice,shell}!baylor!/ === === FAX 716/741-9635 {AT&T 3510D} ihnp4!/ === === === === "Have you hugged your cat today?" ===