Homeopathic Diagnostic Device

[Two Toed Sloth]

My grandma is a registered homeopath and offers treatments at her home. She used to treat me and my siblings (and cousins) when we were ill and I just remembered that before she dished out the sugar pills she used to usually test us with some electronic buzzing pain thingy.

It was a hand held tv remote sized device with various buttons and a readout. The business end was a metallic point (much like a ball point pen). I can't quite remember but I think it was poked into the hand or arm and the pressure was kept on while the thing made a low buzzing, I remember it hurting a bit but I was a wussy child. She would then look at the device before moving on to the lovely interview/diagnosis where I talked about my feelings and what not and felt all better, then I was given a pill and told to hold it under my tongue so it worked better.

Does anyone have any idea what that buzzy thing was? I had completely forgotten about it until now, just did a quick google search and couldn't see much similar.

 

[Fnord]

The buzzy thing was a buzzer. She looked at either a dial setting (Model-I) or a meter (Model-II) indication. It ran off of 2 "AA" batteries.

 

[Two Toed Sloth]

and what exactly was it supposed to do?

 

[Fnord]

Convince you that the person using it knows what he or she is doing.

 

[Zep]

Look scientific. And buzz.

 

[Two Toed Sloth]

Yeah, but I'm pretty sure that when they sell it to believing homeopaths that they sell it as a device with a purpose

 

[Zep]

Probably some sort of Rife machine. They tend to be into that sort of thing. It's an electronic box with dials and knobs that does something scientific. They don't know exactly what. Try asking one how the box works and you will find out all (Hint: They haven't a clue!).

 

[Madalch]

There's a local naturopath around here that diagnoses food allergies and intolerances by measuring the electrical resistance of the skin when she a) shows you a picture of the food, b) chants the name of the food to your skin cells, c) adds a vial of the food to the circuit, d) programs the specific vibration of the food into the mystic ohm-meter while chanting "Ohm...ohm....ohm".

One of these versions, at least.

 

[Fnord]

Google "Heironymous" and "Radionics".

They look scientific, but anyone who has progressed beyond the level of "Irwin Allen School of Schlock Science-Fiction" will see them for what they are: elaborate stage pieces for convincing the audience that Something Beyond Human Understanding is going on.

It's likely a "Dermatron" (Link to Quackwatch website).

"... these devices are little more than fancy galvanometers that measure electrical resistance of the patient's skin when touched by a probe. The device emits a tiny direct electric current that flows through a wire from the device to a brass cylinder covered by moist gauze, which the patient holds in one hand. A second wire is connected from the device to a probe, which the operator touches to "acupuncture points" on the patient's other hand or a foot. This completes a low-voltage circuit and the device registers the flow of current. The information is then relayed to a gauge or computer screen that provides a numerical readout..."

After a little more digging, I found a Russian product under the "Accu-Test" brand. It looks like the one I described earlier, and seems to match the OP's description. Again, these are nothing more than cheap galvanometers with pointy probes. They are sold as "Alternative Medical Devices" (trans: "Techno-Quack Theatrical Props"). At 300 Euros each, they do little more than provide easy income for the manufacturer.

 

[Emet]

Reviving this old thread because SBM recently posted this:

Electrodermal Testing Part I: Fooling Patients with a Computerized Magic Eight Ball
July 5, 2011

Remember the Magic Eight Ball toy? You could ask it a question and shake it and a random answer would float up into a window: yes, no, maybe, definitely, etc. There is even a website where you can ask an Eight Ball questions online.

I have been meaning to write about bogus electrodiagnostic machines for a long time. These devices supposedly diagnose diseases and/or energy imbalances, indicate which remedies will correct the problem(s), and sometimes even treat the imbalances by transmitting a balancing frequency to the patient. I knew they were bogus, but I had never really realized the full extent of the deception until I viewed a set of training videos recently sent to me by a correspondent. I had never realized how similar electrodermal testing was to the Magic Eight Ball. I was further amazed at how they managed to combine every kind of alternative medicine into one incoherent package and to bamboozle patients with an appalling display of pseudoscientific babble.

This will be a two-part series. In the first, I will describe what the machines and their operators do. In the second (next week), I will address the legal and regulatory issues.
(...)
Conclusion
Electrodermal testing makes no sense and is not supported by any credible evidence. It is not based on science or grounded in reality; it is more akin to divination with a Magic 8 Ball. It merits a favorite phrase of Orac’s: a fetid load of dingo’s kidneys.

Next week, in Part II, I will discuss legal issues and regulatory actions.

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/13926/#more-13926