https://www.engr.wisc.edu/news/research-points-to-microwave-attack-as-havana-syndrome-cause/
Research points to microwave attack as Havana Syndrome cause
July 20, 2021
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Since 2016, more than 150 U.S. personnel serving abroad in countries such as Russia, China, Cuba—and recently, Austria—have reported a sudden onset of severe headaches, dizziness and nausea. The mysterious illness is known as the “Havana Syndrome”.
While these symptoms typically are associated with a concussion, the usual causes of such an injury — a fall, blow to the head or proximity to an explosion—weren’t at play.
There is speculation these people were victims of an attack from an invisible weapon known as directed microwave radiation and the White House recently announced it would ramp up inquiries into who or what could have caused the incidents.
A mechanical engineering professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Christian Franck believes the idea of a directed microwave attack is spot-on, and he and his collaborators have shared new research on the preprint server bioRxiv that supports that notion.
An expert in understanding the mechanics and biology of how cells respond to a traumatic brain injury, Frank is director of PANTHER, a transdisciplinary research initiative funded with $10 million from the U.S. Office of Naval Research that brings together scientists from academia, industry and government to study traumatic brain injury through a range of approaches.
In the new research, Franck leveraged a technique called inertial microcavitation that allowed him to mimic the effects of an explosion or directed energy exposure, on different regions within neural cells.
Cavitation occurs when a liquid’s static pressure drops below its vapor pressure, leading to small vapor-filled bubbles. Exposed to higher pressure, the bubbles then collapse and generate shock waves and forces strong enough to damage adjacent materials—in this case, brain tissue.
Using a 3D in vitro neural tissue model, Franck and his collaborators found that, under “blast-like” conditions, neural cells’ microtubules and filamentous actin could withstand higher physical strain than neuronal dendritic spines. Those results aligned with injury thresholds previously reported for lower and moderate strain rates.
What stood out, however, is that those blast-like conditions produced only physical injuries to the brain cells—rather than also biochemically activated cell degeneration, as is typical during an injury caused by a fall or blow to the head. “This is a new kind of insult to the brain that we haven’t seen,” says Franck. “From a clinical perspective, it’s a different type of injury.”
Franck says that when he first read research describing the brain injuries U.S. personnel sustained in Cuba, he was perplexed. “There were lots of places where we noticed significant changes in the volume of white matter (which is found in deeper tissues of the brain), but it didn’t seem consistent with the pathology we know from concussions,” he says. “The authors suggested in the paper that it might be a new pathology. There were significant cognitive defects in the individuals and their recovery time was much longer than it might be for just a concussion.”
What was missing from that research, however, was understanding of how the injuries occurred in the first place. “It looked like blast pathology, but how did it happen?” asks Franck.
Digging deeper, he found a research team that had simulated neural cells’ exposure to microwaves, resulting in enough of a temperature increase to cause thermal stress in the cells.
And for Franck, that’s how everything clicked into place. The physics, he says, point to microwaves as a very plausible explanation—in the absence of an explosion—for how those mysterious brain injuries occurred. “When a microwave is pulsed, waves bounce around and generate larger stresses and pressures,” he says. “Those pressures can give rise to cavitation, which generates very large and fast stresses on brain tissue. That’s the origin of the pathology we’re seeing.”
Frank and his collaborators now are working to experimentally verify the hypothesis that microwaves can generate the kinds of pressures needed to produce cavitation that causes trauma to brain cells. He hopes to be able to consult with governmental agencies and others on developing technologies to detect a microwave attack and countermeasures to keep people out of harm’s way.
Involving researchers across the country who combine depth and breadth of expertise around traumatic brain injury, PANTHER uniquely positions UW-Madison to be a leader in those solutions, says Franck. “If there is going to be a response to try to safeguard people, Wisconsin is one of the universities that could certainly help,” he says.
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Dr. Balaban talks about cavitation @ about minute 14, where RF Comb is probably harmful under the right conditions. And again @23:20 he talked about the possibility of microwave cavitation, showing the RF Comb.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1kKy82W0GE
SOFWERX J5 Donovan Group Radical Speaker Series: Dr. Carey Balaban – Sep 20, 2018
41:40
Dr. Carey Balaban is a Professor of Otolaryngology in the School of Medicine, with secondary appointments in Neurobiology, Communication Sciences and Disorders, and Bioengineering and Director of the Center for National Preparedness. This presentation summarizes a facet of the Office of Naval Research (Code 34) Noise-Induced Hearing Loss Program. Basic research from the 1960s through 1980s on the effects of acoustic and electromagnetic energy exposures provide potential insights into mechanistic bases for effects on the inner ear and other intracranial contents. There are COTS devices that can produce exposures of interest. We will describe a fieldable test technology that can objectively discriminate (1) control subjects, (2) individuals with an acute concussion and (3) affected individuals from Havana.
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Cavitation also mentioned in Dr. Michael Hoffer Report:
The use of oculomotor, vestibular and reaction time tests to assess mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) over time:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/lio2.231
Laryngoscope Investigative Otolaryngology – Otology, Neurotology, and Neuroscience
Acute findings in an acquired neurosensory dysfunction
Michael E. Hoffer MD, Bonnie E. Levin PhD … See all authors
First published: 12 December 2018
https://doi.org/10.1002/lio2.231
In the Autumn of 2016, diplomatic personnel residing in Havana began to present with symptoms of dizziness, ear pain, and tinnitus that emerged after perception of high frequency noise and/or a pressure sensation. Understanding the acute symptoms of this disorder is important for better defining the disorder and developing optimal diagnostic, preventive and treatment algorithms.
Objectives: To define the presenting symptoms in a cohort of patients in the acute time period after perceiving a noise/pressure exposure in Havana.
Design/Settings/Participants: Review of 25 symptomatic individuals who reported a localized sensation of noise/pressure and 10 asymptomatic individuals (roommates of those affected) who did not experience the sound/pressure.
Results: Immediately after the exposure, the majority of individuals reported intense ear pain in one or both ears and experienced tinnitus. All of the individuals noticed unsteadiness and features of cognitive impairment. On presentation to our center, dizziness (92%) and cognitive complaints (56%) were the most common symptoms. Formal testing revealed that 100% of individuals had an otolithic abnormality and evidence of cognitive dysfunction.
Conclusion and Relevance: This study focuses on the acute presentation of a phenomenon in which symptoms emerge after perception of a localized noise/pressure and in which the acute symptomology includes the universal nature of vestibular injuries and select cognitive deficits. The findings presented in this acute group of patients begin to provide a better picture of the initial injury pattern seen after this exposure and may allow for more accurate diagnosis of this disorder in future cases.
Level of Evidence: The authors would like to recognize Kurt Yankaskis, PhD (Program Manager at the Office of Naval Research) for his comments helping to clarify this work, Alexander Kiderman, PhD (Chief Technology Officer at NKI) for designing the software and hardware used to analyze these patients, Constanza Pelusso, MD (Research Director in the Department of Otolaryngology at the University of Miami) for her help in filing all necessary IRB forms and reports, and Danierys Font for her assistance in scheduling all of these patients. We would also like to thank Fred Telischi, MD (Chairman), Anthony Etzel (Vice Chairman ), the audiologists, nurses and staff of the Department of Otolaryngology University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine for their help and assistance in caring for these individuals.
BACKGROUND: Beginning in late 2016 and continuing into 2017, a number of diplomats and family members stationed in Havana, Cuba began to report complaints of sudden onset dizziness, ear pain, and tinnitus. Most of the affected individuals reported hearing an unexplained noise before the symptoms began. The affected individuals characterized the sound as being 1) loud, 2) high frequency, 3) very localized, and 4) capable of following them throughout a room. In addition, several individuals reported that if they went outside their front door, the noise immediately stopped. Others reported a sensation of pressure passing through their head and abdomen in certain parts of the room that could be relieved by moving a few feet away.
Swanson et al. reported preliminary findings from 21 exposed individuals who were evaluated an average of 201 days after the perceived exposure; 20 reported persistent symptoms and displayed signs that resembled aspects of mild traumatic brain injury. More precise characterization of their symptom profiles as well as the identification of the sources of these signs and symptoms is limited, though, by the absence of information regarding the acute presentation of the exposed patients and the early course of their treatment response.1 The purpose of this study is to describe the acute presentation of individuals who experienced neurosensory symptoms after exposure to a unique sound/pressure phenomenon.
METHODS: This retrospective study has been approved by the IRB at the University of Miami as well as the University's HIPPA compliance office. It has also been approved by the IRB at the University of Pittsburgh. The University of Miami conducted evaluations of all individuals who suspected they were affected by an exposure, as well as a sample of individuals who worked and lived in the same geographic area and denied any exposure. Our group was referred 35 individuals from the same diplomatic mission as the index case. These 35 individuals were selected because they reported that they had either experienced the noise and or a pressure wave and had symptoms similar to the index case or because they were in the same house at the same time as someone experiencing these phenomena. All of these individuals were evaluated at an academic medical center in the United States between 4 and 60 days after exposure. There is some, but not total overlap with the patients described by Swanson et al.1 In addition, this group saw a larger group of 105 embassy workers who denied any “exposure” to noise or a pressure sensation, neither personally nor in anyone who shared their domicile. These individuals were largely referred to us by self- request or request of the embassy although the US Marines stationed at the embassy who were not on the initial list, but were seen at the request of the investigators. These individuals were all evaluated in Cuba and underwent the same structured history and physical as those seen in Miami and none of them displayed the symptoms seen in the symptomatic cases, with the exception of some preexisting headache (see Fig. 1). This paper is a review of the presenting symptoms in indiviudals who experienced symptoms after an exposure. The study uses descriptive methods to characterize common symptom patterns that help to better characterize the injury pattern seen after this exposure.
Intervention: All individuals seen at this academic center underwent a comprehensive history and physical examination that included a standard set of history questions, a physical exam targeted to the head and neck, and a neurologic examination. Standard eye movement testing was performed as part of the neurologic exam and this testing was filmed for more precise computer analysis. These tests included examining the eyes for nystagmus in all fields of gaze, smooth pursuit tests, horizontal saccades, predictive saccades, anti-saccades, optokinetic response and vergence measurements. In addition, they underwent tests of visual and auditory reaction time as well as a computerized test of subjective visual vertical (aligning a line straight up and down as a test of the function of the utricle and saccule). A subset of individuals was referred for more formal vestibular and auditory testing and formal neuropsychological testing as allowed by their clinical picture and their health plan.
Statistical Measures: The prevalence of symptoms in the unaffected and affected groups were analyzed with two tailed Fisher Exact tests. Binomial confidence intervals for the prevalence of individual and multiple symptoms were calculated by a the modified Wald method described by Agresti and Coulli.2 Because the Subjective Visual Vertical performance metric (absolute deviation of the subjective setting from earth-vertical) has a non-Gaussian distribution, the criterion for abnormal performance were set at 3.45 degrees (deg) from true vertical, the lower fifth percentile in performance for a normal group of 300 subjects tested with the same protocol (subjects described but SVV data were not presented in previous publications3, 4; the 1% criterion score is 4.3 deg from vertical. The fifth percentile criterion was also applied for the anti-saccade task error rate (at least 43%); the control cumulative distribution has been published.4 The standard clinical criteria for abnormal findings for rotational testing (gain less than 0.8 for a 100 deg/sec impulse), cervical VEMPs (peak amplitude <100 microvolts and/or 35% amplitude asymmetry between sides) and ocular VEMPs (peak amplitude <3 microvolts and/or 35% amplitude asymmetry between sides) were used. The prevalence of abnormal findings was calculated and 99% binomial confidence intervals (modified Wald method,2 calculated directly in MATLAB R2115a, MathWorks, Natick, MA) give expected ranges for prevalence in exposed individuals.
RESULTS: go to https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/lio2.231