What is the Oligoscan?
The Oligoscan is an instant, non-invasive test which measures intracellular levels of 44 different minerals, vitamins and heavy metals. Tests are done using spectrophotometry and are measured on the non-dominant palm of the hand. The Oligoscan test reveals the life history of the patient. The Oligoscan can be performed directly in an office in less than a minute with results available right away. The device is portable and connects directly to a laptop and WiFi. It’s been in use since 2013. When used together with blood, urine, fecal, and/or hair measurements, it presents a 3-dimensional picture of information about the patient. It presents information about mineral status, mineral ratios, heavy metal levels, mobilization of metals, and overall oxidative stress. ​
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The Oligoscan measures three things: cells (tissue), the interstitial space, and the blood via the muscle & small capillaries. Technically, the Oligoscan is looking at Intracellular + Extracellular = The Bioavailability of the Elements.
What is Spectrophotometry?
Otto Heinrick Warburg (1883-1970): “He conducted landmark experiements using Spectrophotometry that proved that the portion of the enzyme that reacts with Oxygen in a cell is identical with the portion of hemoglobin that binds oxygen in the blood. That chemical, called heme, is a porphyrin bonded to iron, and the enzyme containing it, which exists in every cells and makes breathing possible, is known today as cytochrome oxidase.” -The Invisible Rainbow (2017). For this work, Warburg was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology Medicine in 1931.
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Spectrophotometry is a quantitative measurement of the reflection or transmission properties of a material as a function of wavelength, via a Spectrophotometer. It is used in semiconductors, laser and optical manufacturing, printing and forensic examination, as well as in various laboratories.
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Spectrophotometry measures absorption and reflection. Every beam of light is quantized (a certain amount of light) into photons, is measurable. As multiple photons of light are projected, there are consistent and measurable frequencies, creating momentum. When the light shines into the skin, the momentum changes, in which you can gather and calculate how much of the red/green/blue light is absorbed.
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Is spectrophotometry testing valid?
Validation of spectrophotometry is very well documented and is used across multiple industries including space. NASA’s Mars Curiosity Rover uses multiple portable spectrophotometers to identify different types and amounts of elements present on the surface of the planet. Every known compound absorbs, emits, or reflects light (electromagnetic radiation) over a specific range of wavelengths. The more a sample is concentrated, the more it absorbs the specific light applied, within the limits of proportionality expressed in Beer-Lambert’s Law.
What is on the Oligoscan Test?
As of 2024, there are 44 different Minerals, Vitamins and Heavy Metals measured on the test.
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Minerals: Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Silicon, Sodium, Potassium, Copper, Zinc, Iron, Manganese, Chromium, Vanadium, Boron, Cobalt, Molybdenum, Iodine, Lithium, Germanium, Selenium, Sulphur, Fluoride.
Vitamins: Vitamin A, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B9, Vitamin B12, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Vitamin E.
Heavy Metals: Aluminum, Antimony, Silver, Arsenic, Barium, Beryllium, Bismuth, Cadmium, Mercury, Nickel, Platinum, Lead, Thallium, Thorium, Gadolinium, Tin.
SAMPLE TEST
Why use the palm of the hand?
The palm of the hand, regardless of race or ethnicity, has the same pigment. Therefore, there is no bias considering skin tone. We also primarily excrete heavy metals through our hands, feet, and armpits.
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Why test the non-dominant hand?
The non-dominant hand retains 10-15% more heavy metals than the dominant hand. The dominant hand is significantly more active, activating the lymphatic system, and is able to excrete more metals.
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Is the Oligoscan reliable and repeatable?
Each Oligoscan test takes 4 measurements from 4 different locations of the patient's non-dominant palm. Three of these measurements must be within 95% of each other to produce a test report. If you repeat the test with the same patient, back-to-back or within a few hours, the tests should have nearly identical trends and be very similar to one another. The exception is if a mineral/metal/vitamin is on the cusp/borderline, particularly red/yellow, there could be a slight fluctuation due to the amount of the element and the corresponding light being absorbed/reflected/measured.
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Why use blood type?
Light reacts differently when it is passed through the different blood types. An accurate blood type must be determined (Rh +/- not needed) before doing an Oligoscan test. The accuracy of the patient’s blood type being properly entered is a critical data parameter used in determining the ‘normal reference ranges. If the patient does NOT know their blood type, it is best NOT do an Oligoscan test until the blood type can be determined. If you do not know your blood type, a simple test is available from www.ELDONCARD.com.
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History of Oligoscan
Beer-Lambert’s Law (1760 & 1852): Every known compound absorbs, emits, or reflects light on the Electromagnetic Spectrum over a specific range of wavelengths. The more a sample is concentrated, the more it absorbs the specific light applied, within the limits of proportionality expressed in Beer-Lamber’s Law.
The Law of Conservation of Energy (Albert Einstein, 1905): Energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can only be changed from one form to another.
The body can actually change one element into another in the body, as needed to fill a deficiency in a nutrient or chemical reaction. ​​​​​​​​​
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Is there Clinical Validation for the Oligoscan?
Oligoscan was validated in 2013 by two clinics in Europe, and the results were published in French & German. Since this time, thousands of clinics in the EU, ASIA and USA have been using the Oligoscan. For more information, please reference the Appendix of 'Clinical Metal Toxicology' by Dr. P MD (NL) as well as his powerpoint & video from Tokyo Keynote Lecture (2016). Unfortunately this clinical never got published (due to denied money requests).
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How does The Oligoscan Test compare to a Blood, Urine, or Hair test?
Blood, Hair, Urine, and the Intracellular Tissue have different roles, and their measurements are not meant to be the same. Mineral test results from each of these four categories will yield different results, because each of the tissues being examined (hair, blood, urine, palmar tissue) is different. Blood, hair, urine, and spectrophotometry each have their own reference ranges developed over time and are always in revision. Blood is a transportation system and only keeps what is needed in circulation at any given time. Urine and Hair are excretory systems. They show what the body is getting rid of at any given time. Intracellular Tissue is the destination of the minerals and shows what is being bioaccumulated.
It is important to note that although you can do a blood or hair test for some minerals, the amount of circulating mineral is sometimes very small and will not give an accurate value of what is bioavailable in the body. Copper is a great example of this. Only 1% of the copper in the body is found in the blood. So doing a blood test is possible, but it is only testing 1% of the total amount, so any change in reading cannot be extrapolated to what is available in the body as a whole.
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Blood Test: Represents what is currently in circulation at that moment. Blood is the transportation system of nutrients. Venous blood may not reveal a true picture of bioavailability. Blood is the transportation system, not the arrival depot. The arrival depot is the intracellular tissue space and the vital organ tissue. Blood can show recently circulating heavy metals and blood tests are particularly valuable in the case of an acute intoxication. Heavy metal levels in the blood are subject to several environmental factors. Blood uses a safety system called homeostasis. To preserve life, the body will push or dump toxins that enter the bloodstream back out again immediately. The excess goes into the peripheral, fatty tissue or organs. It does this to stabilize normal bodily functions. Therefore, the amount of minerals and trace elements is kept fairly constant in the blood.
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Hair Test: About 90% of human scalp hair at any given time is in the growth phase. During this time, elements from the follicular cells and their blood supply are incorporated into hair. Toxic metals which are not incorporated into organ cells are excreted in hair. Some disorders excrete into the hair at a different rate than average, for example Autistic Spectrum Disorder. If a patient is a poor excreter, as seen with many individuals, especially with the chronically ill, the toxic elements may appear under-represented in hair tissue compared to Oligoscan.
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Urine Test: Shows the extent the body can excrete metals. In a normal urine sample, almost nothing is excreted. Provocation tests using urine are very useful to test excretion capability. However, chelation agents do not penetrate cell membranes. They only help measure the amount of metals within the extracellular space.
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What can’t be measured? The Oligoscan does not measure the amount of Aluminum in the brain tissue, or the amount of Cadmium in lung tissue, for example. The only known way to test specific levels of heavy metals in a particular tissue would be to do a biopsy.
