What is BioEnergetic Assessment (BEA) and how does it work?
Written by Bob Eanes

Every BEA instrument is an OHMmeter, i.e. it measures one thing - electrical impedance.

Back in the late 1940's, Dr. Reinholt Voll, MD, began an investigation of the effects of electricity on the human physiology. In his studies, Dr. Voll used a technique known as Impedance or OHM metering. In simple terms, some materials are very electrically conductive, for example metals like steel and copper - electricity flows very easily through metals and therefore there is no substantial resistance on the electricity flowing through the metal. Other materials are not conductive, for example wood or rubber, and since these materials are not conductive, their resistance to electrical current is very high. An OHMmeter measures electrical resistance (impedance), and it is also capable of measuring conductance since the inverse of resistance (1/resistivity approximately), is conductance.

Dr. Voll found that if he tested the electrical conductance on any general area of the human body, there was a fairly high level of electrical resistance. This is a curious point since we know that the body has a large volume of electrically conductive fluids within it. But the skin is very resistant, by its nature, to electrical current. Dr. Voll also found that at certain specific locations on the anatomy, the electrical flow is much more conductive, and these points generally correspond to the Eastern Medical Acupuncture points. Therefore, you can use an impedance or OHMmeter to test the acupuncture points. This is somewhat simplistic, but it does describe the basic process of BEA.

BEA Testing indirectly measures the "Energetic System" of the body. It does not measure the physiology, the biochemistry or the pathology components of the human body. However, the "Energetic System" is related to these components from the standpoint of physics, not chemistry.

Acupuncture is a science that works with the "Energetic" system of the body. The human body is biochemical (physical). It has an electrical component and also an energetic aspect as well. The acupuncture meridians are a communication and energetic flow network.

"Energetic," in this sense, is a somewhat elusive term. Yes, the meridians do have some form of energy, but it is not electricity. There is a controversy about the validity of Acupuncture because scientists cannot measure the energetic system of the body directly, i.e., they cannot prove that acupuncture meridians exists using conventional measurements. It is important that you keep this fact in mind. BEA does not directly measure the acupuncture/energetic system of the body directly. This is not scientifically possible at this time. But, there is a bio-physiological phenomenon that occurs when you run electricity through the acupuncture points. The electrical flow (conductance) gives us an indication of the energetic health status of the meridian that we are testing. For example, if you are testing the Liver Meridian with an EAV instrument, the meter will give an indication of the Liver Meridian's energetic status. Remember, energetic is not electrical, but we can use electricity to indirectly measure the energetic system.