Patent No. 6238333 Remote magnetic manipulation of nervous systems

 

Patent No. 6238333

Remote magnetic manipulation of nervous systems (Loos, May 29, 2001) 

Abstract

Apparatus and method for remote manipulation of nervous systems by the magnetic dipole field of a rotating bar magnet. Reliance on modulation of spontaneous spiking patterns of sensory nerve receptors, and exploitation of a resonance mechanism of certain neural circuits, allows the use of very weak magnetic fields. This, together with the large magnetic moments that can be obtained with a permanent bar magnet, makes it possible to effectively manipulate the nervous system of a subject over a distance of several hundred meters, using a small portable battery-powered device. The method can be used in law enforcement for standoff situations. 

Notes:

SUMMARY

Oscillatory magnetic fields induce electric fields in exposed biological tissue and can therefore act on nerves. Considerable tissue electric fields are needed to cause firing of otherwise quiescent nerves, but very much smaller fields suffice for modulation of spontaneous nerve spiking. Still weaker fields can be used for exciting resonances in certain neural circuits through evoked signals from afferent somatosensory nerves which carry the modulated spiking patterns to the brain.

It has been found that, in this manner, weak oscillatory magnetic fields with an amplitude between 5 femtotesla and 50 nanotesla can be used for manipulating the human nervous system, when the fields are tuned to certain frequencies near 1/2 Hz that cause excitation of sensory resonances. Observable physiological consequences of the resonance include ptosis of the eyelids, relaxation, sleepiness, and sexual excitement, depending on the precise frequency used, and on the location and duration of the magnetic field application.

Both topical and systemic field administration have been found effective. For the latter case the field can be produced over a considerable distance by a rotating permanent magnet that has a large magnetic moment. This makes it possible to manipulate a subject's nervous system over a range of several hundred meters, such as to cause relaxation and drowsiness. The method can be used in law enforcement for standoff situations.

Simple devices which use a rotating bar magnet are disclosed. Multiple rotating bar magnets can be used, and the phase angles of the magnets may then be arranged to cause constructive interference of the magnetic fields induced in the subject.

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For military applications the device of FIG. 5, properly designed for compactness and for withstanding shock, can be air dropped or shot by mortar to locations near foes so that the latter can be subjected to magnetic manipulation. It is then suitable to arrange for radio control of the device. Since the rather slow rotation of a well-balanced magnet assembly can be maintained by small coil currents, battery power is viable. A startup circuit needs to be provided to get the magnet rotation going.

Human sensitivity to very weak magnetic fields at sensory resonance frequencies is not understood. U.S. Pat. No. 5,935,054 contains a discussion of several aspects of this problem. In addition, it is noted that cutaneous stretch receptors may be involved in the response to the weak magnetic fields, because the polarization charges that accumulate on surfaces of discontinuity of the electric conductivity as a result of the eddy currents decay slowest on the skin, if the subject is electrically isolated from the surroundings. Thermal smearing of the polarization charges in the epidermis over a layer with thickness of the order of the Debye length then may cause an electric field to act on susceptable stretch receptors that lie close to the epidermis or protrude from the dermis into the epidermis. This electric field oscillates with the frequency of the applied magnetic field and may perhaps cause frequency modulation of the spontaneous spiking of the stretch receptors.

The method is expected to be effective also on certain animals, and application to animal control is therefore envisioned. The nervous system of mammals is similar to that of humans, so that sensory resonances are expected to exist. The disposition towards the 1/2 Hz resonance is thought to have its origin in the fetal state, developed through the rythmical sensations caused by the mother's walk, associatively coupled with hormone concentrations. For mammals, one expects a resonance of this type at about the frequency of the mother's relaxed walk. Accordingly, in the present invention, the subjects are mammals.

The invention is not limited by the embodiments shown in the drawings and described in the specification, which are given by way of example and not of limitation, but only in accordance with the scope of the appended claims.