Characterizing the structural Influence of electromagnetic field application geometry on biological systems

Abstract

There is growing literature that describes the effects that exposures to different forms of magnetic and electromagnetic fields have on biological systems. Some robust effects have been reported when the temporal structure of the electromagnetic field is patterned after what has been observed biologically. However, there has been little effort devoted to ascertaining the role for that physical application geometry, the structure through that current is presented, plays in the bio-effectivity of patterned EMF. Here we devised a series of investigations that compared 4 unique geometric organizations of copper wire based application devices to generate patterned EMFs in order to discern if application geometry has any impact on biological responses from cell systems treated with exposure to EMF. Furthermore, we examined the structural pattern of a burst-firing EMF in order to characterize that parameters are important in optimizing the proportion of cells that can be induced to bear plasma membrane extensions in a cell model of induced neuritogenesis. Results of the experiments conducted within this thesis show that the pattern of the EMF applied to PC-12 cells is the most important factor to promote neurite outgrowth. Other parameters such as: the intensity of the applied field, the timing of the field, exposure duration, and whether or not the pattern in constantly or intermittently (i.e., rotated) exposed to PC-12 cells treated with forskolin do not appreciably impact the growth of neurites. Investigations using different magnetic geometries (e.g., structures around that copper wire is wound) were able to show that the physical structure of the EMF-generating device contribute to the efficacy of neurogenesis of PC-12 cells exposed to burst-firing pattern. Furthermore, unique EMF-generating devices influenced spectral profiles of ultra-weak photons emitted from B16-BL6 cells. The differences obtained between magnetic field generating devices suggest that the more heterogeneous the patterned EMF the more impactful it is on the structural and functional aspects of the biological system under investigation. Rigorous physical experimentation examining the features associated with unique structures around that copper wire is wound, showed that if the EMF-generating device approaches the structure of a dome, it has the capacity to reduce background magnetic field intensity and may provide insight (e.g., a mechanism) as to the efficaciousness of observed effects when a patterned EMF is generated through this device.