Xref: utzoo sci.med:5570 sci.electronics:3048 Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!bellcore!rutgers!gatech!ncar!boulder!sunybcs!kitty!larry From: larry@kitty.UUCP (Larry Lippman) Newsgroups: sci.med,sci.electronics Subject: Re: electric sleep Summary: Hewlett-Packard marketed such a device over 20 years ago Message-ID: <2548@kitty.UUCP> Date: 5 Jun 88 22:00:30 GMT References: <22@<1801> <21500051@uiucdcsm> Sender: nobody@sunybcs.UUCP Organization: Recognition Research Corp., Clarence, NY Lines: 42 In article <21500051@uiucdcsm>, kenny@uiucdcsm.cs.uiuc.edu writes: >> I would like to know if there is anyone who has any information on the >> use of very low voltage and current to induce sleep. > > It's not *just* fiction; I knew a guy who was experimenting with it > and built a testbed device roughly twelve years ago. Unfortunately, > I wasn't that interested in it at the time, and never got any > references from him. Anyone else heard of this idea? Hewlett-Packard actually marketed such a device for a couple of years, starting in 1966; it was the H-P 3380B Electroanesthesia Instrument. As the name implies, it was intended for the induction of anesthesia (more correctly, analgesia and narcosis) by electrical means. The device was intended for experimental use on animals ONLY, and was NEVER intended for use on humans. Human use, however, was to be a logical extension of animal research. The device put out a dual sinewave, with a fixed low frequency component of 100 Hz, and a variable high frequency component of 700 to 10,000 Hz. The output was an adjustable, constant current supply with a maximum of 100 mA RMS. Connection to the subject was through needle electrodes, inserted subcutaneously, or intramuscularly. I actually worked with this device around 1967 when I was a research associate in a university biomedical research lab. Since, at the time, I was the only EE/biochemist at the facility, I was "elected" to evaluate the device on dogs and write a paper about it. The results were very unreliable, unpredictable and discouraging. This is probably why nothing became of the technology for veterinary use - let alone eventual use on humans. I still have my research notes, data from H-P, and bibliography, in case anyone is really interested. I don't recommend any "home experiments" on this topic. I would be curious to see any comments from someone at H-P, if they are able to find out what H-P's conclusion was concerning the instrument. I left the academic community in 1970, so I have been out of touch as to whether any further development effort occurred in this area. <> Larry Lippman @ Recognition Research Corp., Clarence, New York <> UUCP: {allegra|ames|boulder|decvax|rutgers|watmath}!sunybcs!kitty!larry <> VOICE: 716/688-1231 {hplabs|ihnp4|mtune|utzoo|uunet}!/ <> FAX: 716/741-9635 {G1,G2,G3 modes} "Have you hugged your cat today?"