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Yakk · 06-08-2005, 07:54 AM

It's a lazer.

So that's one frequency of light.

From one single frequency -- which, importantly, they don't get to fine tune[1], on the surface of someone's body, they claim to be able to pick up the amount of some important metabolite?

I doubt it.

As noted by Ustwo, it is easy to generate such a scam, if you assume it is picking up some detail of skin pigmentation (it is just one frequency, so you wouldn't even be able to see the difference). It could and probably is a random number -- but it might be a random number on a per person basis.

People like stories. So lets describe this as a story.

Someone learns that you can shoot lasers at people and get some small amount of chemical information back. So, they find a relatively cheap laser that tends to generate the same result when shot at the same person. They then either find some chemical, or make up some chemical, that this laser detects.

Now, you have a totally neat marketing tool. You go around and 'measure' using high-tech devices some number that means absolutely nothing, and tell people with low scores that they really need to buy your product.

It's a perfect high-tech snake oil scam.

Given the tendency towards quakery in medicine, it seems best to assume a scam until proven otherwise.

[1] Lasers are not that flexible in frequency, as far as I know?

06-08-2005, 07:54 AM	#15 (permalink)
Yakk Wehret Den Anfängen! Location: Ontario, Canada	It's a lazer. So that's one frequency of light. From one single frequency -- which, importantly, they don't get to fine tune[1], on the surface of someone's body, they claim to be able to pick up the amount of some important metabolite? I doubt it. As noted by Ustwo, it is easy to generate such a scam, if you assume it is picking up some detail of skin pigmentation (it is just one frequency, so you wouldn't even be able to see the difference). It could and probably is a random number -- but it might be a random number on a per person basis. People like stories. So lets describe this as a story. Someone learns that you can shoot lasers at people and get some small amount of chemical information back. So, they find a relatively cheap laser that tends to generate the same result when shot at the same person. They then either find some chemical, or make up some chemical, that this laser detects. Now, you have a totally neat marketing tool. You go around and 'measure' using high-tech devices some number that means absolutely nothing, and tell people with low scores that they really need to buy your product. It's a perfect high-tech snake oil scam. Given the tendency towards quakery in medicine, it seems best to assume a scam until proven otherwise. [1] Lasers are not that flexible in frequency, as far as I know? __________________ Last edited by JHVH : 10-29-4004 BC at 09:00 PM. Reason: Time for a rest.