Electrodermal Screening (EDS)
Traditional Chinese medicine states that chi, or body energy, circulates throughout the body. This network of circuitry forms paths that are referred to as the meridian system. The meridian system is the foundation for both acupuncture and electrodermal screening ( EDS ).

How Does Electrodermal Screening Work?
The device used in electrodermal screening (EDS) measures electrical resistance and polarization at acupuncture points and meridians. The basis of this technology was invented in the 1950’s by the German medical doctor Reinhold Voll. Although relatively new to Canada, this technique is well understood, accepted and widely used in many other countries including Germany, France and England. Today’s testing is the end-product of a 30-year evolution of Dr. Voll’s work that utilizes a modern computer program, a sensitive Ohm meter and a signal generator.

Electrodermal screening involves three components to the testing equipment. The core of electrodermal screening is an Ohm meter. There are two cables coming out of the EDS, one positive, and one negative. The positive lead is attached to a stylus with an electrode tip. The technician holds the stylus by the insulated handle and presses the tip against one of the patient’s acupuncture points. The patient holds a hand electrode in their free hand. During the measurement the patient and the EDS form a closed circuit, allowing energy and information to flow from the EDS to the probe, through the patient to the hand electrode, and back to the EDS. The EDS reading is a measurement of how much energy makes it through the circuit (the lower the resistance the higher the reading).

Food and Environmental Sensitivity Testing
Dr. Roy Curtain was able to ‘map out’ the electromagnetic frequency of many foods, inhalants and other substances in our environment. This ‘electrical signature’ is stored in the signal generator and is output during testing in a binary code form. The frequency of the substance is output and a skin response to that signal is measured with the probe at the ‘allergy’ point along one of the meridians.

Electrodermal screening allows many foods to be tested. There are approximately 500 foods in the software system and they may be tested painlessly, quickly, at a rate of about 200 per hour. EDS measures both histamine and non-histamine responses to substances which many tests are not able to do. Non-histamine responses are particularly important in food sensitivities, since many reactions are non-histamine related, such as bloating, fatigue and headaches.