Anatomic characterization of human ultra-weak photon emission with a moveable photomultiplier and CCD imaging

Ultra-weak photon emission of a living system has received scientific attention because of its potential for monitoring oxidative metabolism and oxidative damage to tissues. Heretofore, most studies have focused only on the emission from hands. The data regarding emission from other anatomic locations are limited. A previous multi-anatomic site recording of four subjects quantitatively demonstrated that the emission from several corresponding anatomic locations could differ by as much as a factor of 4. The data also suggested a “common” anatomic emission percentage distribution pattern. This information raised the question whether such a typical anatomic percentage emission exists. The objective of the present paper is to systematically replicate the emission from identical anatomic locations to document whether the anatomic percentage distribution pattern is generic. Part 1 includes the recording of ultra-weak photon emission from one sample subject over the torso, head and upper extremities with a highly sensitive charge-coupled device (CCD). Part 2 includes the analysis of that data to select a series of anatomic locations that were subsequently studied with a group of 20 subjects utilizing a highly sensitive, cooled and moveable (in three directions) photomultiplier system. Total sum emission of all recorded anatomic locations per subject fluctuates in this study almost 5-fold between subjects. However, the contribution of each anatomic location to the total emission from each subject was approximately the same percentage for each subject and similar to the sample CCD subject. The deviation of the anatomic percentage contribution for each subject was also established. The study presents evidence that there is a “common” anatomic percentage distribution pattern of ultra-weak photon emission for corresponding locations from each subject.