Electroceuticals / Bioelectronic Medicine

The electrical carrier, in either of two forms: current deliberately applied to tissue, or a conductive coupling that changes the body's potential or the path of current through it. The applied-current members (TENS for pain, nVNS for cleared headache indications, tDCS) work through ordinary, dosed bioelectric stimulation; grounding / earthing enters here by the second form — a real, measurable conductive connection whose claimed biological pathway is unestablished, not an exception to the family. The rest are electrodermal-diagnosis devices (EAV/Voll, Vega, SCIO) whose measurement is real but whose interpretation failed testing, and a current “cure” (the Clark zapper) that does not.

TENS / Microcurrent / FSMConventional bioelectric stimulation with a real but modest evidence base for pain — and the effect size is small: TENS analgesia is under 1 point on a 0–10 scale in chronic low-back-pain meta-analyses. Class record only; brands are examples inside it. Systemic / disease claims beyond pain are overreach.Evidence-supported grade A/B nVNS — Non-Invasive Vagus Nerve StimulationReal vagal neuromodulation with FDA clearances for specific headache indications; widely sold off-label for HRV / longevity / biohacking, where the evidence is frontier.Evidence-supported grade B/C EAV / Voll — Electroacupuncture According to VollThe textbook 'instrument is not interpretation' case: real electrodermal measurement, a diagnostic interpretation that fails under blinding. The hardware and the data survive; the organ-diagnosis claim does not.Tested — not confirmed grade F Vega TestingSame substrate as EAV — a real electrodermal measurement — with an ampoule-in-circuit allergy/toxin interpretation that failed testing. Instrument real; interpretation not confirmed.Tested — not confirmed grade F Hulda Clark ZappersA trivial DC source claimed to 'kill parasites' and cure disease. The hardware is real; the sterilize-by-current cure claim is physically incoherent and was the subject of FTC/FDA action.Insufficient evidence / under study grade F tDCS — Transcranial Direct Current StimulationLow-amplitude direct current delivered across the scalp shifts cortical excitability without firing neurons, biasing—rather than driving—activity in the targeted region. The evidence base is now anchored by a fully remote, sham-controlled home-use randomized trial in major depression and by a regulatory pathway, with the Flow Neuroscience FL-100 reported as the first home-use non-invasive brain-stimulation device to receive an FDA premarket approval (PMA) for depression. A 2025 systematic review/meta-analysis of home-based tDCS in depressive disorders supports the depression signal, while consumer cognitive-enhancement and longevity claims remain unproven.Evidence-supported grade B tACS — Transcranial Alternating Current StimulationtACS applies a low-intensity alternating current across the scalp with the intention of entraining or modulating endogenous brain oscillations at a targeted frequency. The mechanism is biophysically interesting and actively studied, but the evidence base sits largely at the pilot and protocol stage, and reported effects are inconsistent across studies. A representative protocol for post-stroke depression explicitly notes a lack of robust replicated results, and the field overall reports frequent replication and state-dependence problems. Findings should be read as preliminary rather than established.Insufficient evidence / under study grade C/D taVNS — Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve StimulationtaVNS delivers transcutaneous electrical stimulation over the ear to engage the auricular branch of the vagus nerve, a noninvasive approach with a plausible neuromodulatory and autonomic mechanism and a reassuring safety profile. A 2022 systematic review and meta-analysis of 177 studies (6,322 subjects) found adverse events were typically mild and transient — chiefly ear pain, headache, and tingling — with no severe events causally linked to treatment. However, efficacy evidence remains early and heterogeneous: a 2025 review of taVNS in major depressive disorder reports promising antidepressant signals but flags small samples, short follow-up, and widely varying protocols and sham controls. It is the auricular cousin of cervical nVNS (gammaCore), which has crossed into FDA-cleared use at a higher tier.Insufficient evidence / under study grade C SCENAR / DENAS — 'Adaptive' Transcutaneous ElectroneurostimulationA real TENS-family stimulator whose specific 'adaptive' (skin-resistance-tuned) advantage was tested and not shown: in a single-blind RCT, pain fell equally with the device on and off. The substrate — ordinary neurostimulation — is real; the adaptive claim, and the broad disease programs sold around it, are not. This record exists because the brand was riding the TENS class grade.Tested — not confirmed grade D/E SCIO / INDIGO / QXCI — Electrodermal 'Biofeedback' SystemA skin-electrical measurement device whose diagnostic doctrine descends from EAV/Voll and radionics. Two claims, two verdicts: the diagnostic claim was tested and not confirmed (it principally registers skin resistance, which does not track health status); the therapeutic claim is unstudied. Filed beside EAV/Voll and Vega for substrate consistency, not doctrinal kinship.Tested — not confirmed grade F Healy — Microcurrent + 'Frequency' WearableSplit the claims. The microcurrent output is real, TENS-level hardware with a narrow US clearance; the 'quantum sensor' that individualises 'frequencies' is a separate doctrine that contradicts established science. The clearance covers the microcurrent component only — clearance, never approval.Insufficient evidence / under study grade E Grounding / Earthing (Conductive Coupling to Earth)Deliberate conductive connection of the body to earth potential, via mats, sheets or conductive flooring. The electrical connection is real and measurable — this is not a mechanism that cannot exist — so no contradicts-established-science badge. What is unestablished is the pathway from potential equalisation to the claimed effects on inflammation, sleep and cortisol. Conductive flooring materials used for earthing — shungite among them — are an implementation of this modality and are evaluated here.Insufficient evidence / under study grade D/E