From Mesmer and the Age of Enlightenment to the present day, ‘magnetic healing’ has had many colourful champions all too ready to claim that they can magnetise water, wood, air and the human body – and all for therapeutic effect – at a price.

This fascination with ‘animal magnetism’ is perhaps understandable given the almost mythical properties of magnets: action at a distance being just one of these. But is this fact or fiction? And what have we learned over the years about how we as human beings interact with the sometimes powerful, always invisible magnetic fields?

In this discourse we will trace the many and varied ways that magnets have been used in healthcare over the centuries, how they are used currently, and prospects for their future use. In particular we will look at new magnetic healing techniques, and explore the exciting world of opportunities in healthcare biomagnetics.

Quentin Pankhurst is Deputy Director of the London Centre for Nanotechnology and a Professor of Physics at University College London. Born in New Zealand, he came to the UK in 1983 to study solid state physics at the University of Liverpool, where he mostly stayed until joining UCL in 1994. Prof Pankhurst now runs research programmes in bio- and nanomagnetism aimed at making practical advances in the use of magnetic nanoparticles in healthcare. He is the co-founder of Endomagnetics Ltd, a spin-out company which is currently running clinical trials of the SentiMag, an intra-operative device for breast cancer surgery.

Registration required:

Yes

Free:

No