The Signal Effect

“Cells communicate with voltage. The opportunity is to join that conversation precisely, not to shout over it.”

— Erik A. Nilsen, PhD, Co-founder & Chief Technology Officer

Chronic inflammation sits underneath a startling share of major disease — from metabolic and cardiovascular conditions to neurological and autoimmune ones. So when a technology offers a new way to influence inflammation, it is worth understanding even if you are not a scientist. Pulsed electromagnetic field therapy is one such technology, and the most useful way I have found to explain it is this: cells use voltage to communicate, and PEMF is being studied as a way to modulate that cellular language rather than to force the body into compliance.

That framing matters because it sets expectations correctly. This is not a battering ram. It is closer to adjusting the terms of a conversation the body is already having.

What the research suggests

Research suggests that PEMF can influence ion channels, downregulate inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-alpha and IL-1beta, and increase nitric oxide, which plays a role in circulation and tissue signaling. I phrase these as suggestions deliberately; the field is active and the details still being worked out. But the direction — nudging the signals that govern inflammation — is coherent and increasingly studied.

A visualization of electromagnetic energy waves. The recurring expert insight is that frequency and dosage matter enormously. The same energy, delivered differently, can have very different effects. That is why smart algorithms sit at the center of the modern approach: getting the dose right, and adapting it, is as important as the stimulation itself.

“Small, well-timed signals can reshape how a system behaves. That principle sits at the heart of bioelectric thinking.”

— Nev Zubcevik, DO, Co-founder & Chief Medical Officer

From wearables to a learning platform

PEMF is being studied across a range of conditions, including long COVID-related fatigue, traumatic brain injury, and Crohn's disease, and there are already wearable devices on the market that use algorithmic dosing. The frontier from here is twofold: matching frequencies and dosing to individual biology, and using AI to map the electrome — the body's electrical landscape — to discover new therapeutic signals.

That is the direction Electrome's platform is built to move toward: algorithmic dosing and AI-guided signal design, with the longer view reaching into oncology and infectious disease. The promise is real, and so is the work required to earn each claim. I would rather under-promise and let the evidence speak.

Cells imaged with fluorescence microscopy.