Intensity is a key driver of any PEMF device. It measures how much energy is being delivered. PEMF induces microvoltages in our cells, and higher intensity means stronger microvoltages. Both low and high intensities have been found beneficial in studies. Higher intensities can work faster, but too much intensity for too long can have negative effects. All the devices we reviewed and have tested fall within the beneficial range based on our research.
Intensity is measured in either gauss or tesla. I use gauss or milligauss because it provides an easier-to-understand unit for these devices. Some companies refer to intensities in tesla (T), millitesla (mT), or microtesla (µT). The simple conversions are:
1 Tesla = 10,000 gauss
1 Millitesla (mT) = 10 gauss
100 Microtesla (µT) = 1 gauss
1 Microtesla (µT) = 10 milligauss
1 Gauss = 1,000 milligauss
An important factor is that these measurements are taken at the surface of the mat, which is not the intensity most of your body is exposed to. I have also tested PEMF magnetic field distribution so you can see how much the different mats and devices penetrate into three-dimensional space. While the inverse square law applies to most single-coil applicators, introducing multiple coils changes the field distribution significantly based on coil design and layout. Please read the section on PEMF Magnetic Field Distribution to see the distribution each mat provides. You can then apply the following peak measurements to estimate the real intensity you receive above the surface of each mat. Every company lists intensity based on a surface reading, so it is important to realize this is not the actual intensity the majority of your body gets exposed to.
Is Higher Intensity Needed?
Some proponents claim high-intensity PEMF therapy is the most effective type for multiple reasons. There is some truth to this — higher-intensity PEMF can produce faster results — but it also makes overdosing easier over time. Like red light therapy, PEMF is about dosage over time.
The second reason some people, such as Dr. Pawluk, promote high intensity is the rapid drop-off magnetic fields experience the farther you get from the source. This is half true. It does apply when using single-coil applicators, but it is not the case with mats that have multiple coils.
For a quick example: the FlexPulse has a measured peak gauss of 269 but drops off about 98.5% at 5 inches from the applicator pad, leaving only 1.5% of the peak intensity. Compare this to the HealthyLine (HealthyWave) High Intensity Jet Mat, which has a peak gauss of 30 at the surface but still delivers 5–13% of that peak at 5 inches away — only an 87–95% drop-off. Both devices end up with similar intensities at 5 inches due to the different drop-off rates based on their coil distribution designs.
Others in the PEMF research field such as Dr. Robert Dennis have said in comments high intensity (therefore high slew rate) PEMF is most effective as an applicator but actually becomes less effective when applied in a full body mat.
A high peak intensity may be critical for single-point applicators, but it becomes much less important in systems using multiple coils and full body mats. For the full testing results, please read the section on PEMF Magnetic Field Distribution.
Intensity Over Time (Duty Cycle)
The second factor to consider is how much intensity you receive over time. This also can be referred to as the duty cycle, how long the magnetic field is on vs off. Is a single high-intensity pulse going to provide benefits? Probably not. You need multiple pulses to receive the benefits of PEMF therapy because the cumulative effects are what matter. This is why ultra-high-intensity devices in the tens of thousands of gauss can achieve quick results, but overuse can cause negative effects.
Having more pulses per second and/or longer pulse duration increases the duty cycle, giving you more PEMF therapy per second. The duty cycle is simply how often the PEMF pulses are on versus off.
Consider the HealthyLine (HealthyWave) High Intensity Jet Mat, which at 30 Hz has a 50% duty cycle at 30 gauss. Now compare that to the MiraMate Big Magic Pad, which pulses at 8 Hz with pulses about 0.1 ms long, giving it a duty cycle of 0.08% at 156 gauss. Your cumulative PEMF exposure is much greater with the HealthyLine mat in this scenario.
This means a lower-intensity device with many more pulses may deliver more overall magnetic energy than a high-intensity device using only a few pulses.
Keep in mind there is no exact science on which combination of PEMF intensity, pulse widths, and duty cycles is best. Higher intensities, even at low dosage, may induce certain effects on cells that low intensities cannot, and vice versa. From our research, there is merit to using both lower-intensity devices with higher frequencies/duty cycles and high-intensity devices with low frequencies.
Electromagnetic Sensitivity
A certain subset of the population is electromagnetically sensitive, or generally more sensitive to different therapies and supplements. From our experience dealing with thousands of PEMF mat customers, we have found that higher or even moderate intensity PEMF is not suitable for everyone. These individuals are best served by using low-intensity PEMF mats and devices. They can still receive the benefits of PEMF therapy because it is cumulative, meaning they can get great results using a low intensity over time.
Testing Methods
We measure intensity in two ways: measuring the peak gauss of an individual pulse, and measuring the average energy induced over time. This gives you two windows to view intensity. A single pulse may be very intense, but if the pulse duration is very short or there are not many pulses occurring, the total energy delivered may still be low.
Peak Gauss Measurements
To measure peak gauss we used an F.W. Bell 5280 Meter, which with the hall effect probe we have is good for measuring from 3 gauss into the tens of thousands of gauss. There are very few gauss meters that can measure peak gauss in PEMF; this is one of them. Using the wrong meters will give you incorrect results, which is why if you take a standard TriField meter or other gauss meter you will most likely get much lower gauss readings.
The second instrument we used is the Low Frequency Magnetic Field B-dot Sensor. While this is also used for measuring waveforms, it acts as a gauss meter as well, outputting a flat broadband range of 1 mV for every 1 mG for pulses in the range of 500 ms to 1 ms. This covers the majority of mats that were under 3 gauss, allowing me to get accurate readings. We have compared these readings to the F.W. Bell and most of the time they were very accurate, with at most a 20% difference. While this may seem like a large margin of error, this only applies to measuring low-intensity devices, so a 1.2 gauss reading may only be 1 gauss.
You will still find these measurements more accurate than what is provided by most manufacturers’ websites, as many devices are not using as precise equipment and under-report their gauss by several magnitudes.
Average Energy Induced
This is a measurement method we developed. It factors in pulse duration, pulses per second, and peak intensity, combining all of those into an average voltage reading using a multimeter connected to the Low Frequency Magnetic Field B-dot Sensor. This gives you a rough estimate of the amount of energy being induced over time. We used all the mats on their max intensity and frequency to get their peak results. If you lowered the intensity or frequency, the readings would drop accordingly. This test gives you an idea of how much energy over time each PEMF mat or device can deliver on more of an average basis, rather than looking at the peak gauss for one pulse.
PEMF Device Intensity: Peak Gauss & Average Energy
The following table shows all the different mats’ and devices’ peak gauss and average energy induced. All readings were done at the highest settings on each mat. You will notice that the highest peak gauss does not always translate to higher average energy induced. Below we will explain why this is the case for each device. If you would like further information, such as the different intensity settings for devices that let you change intensity, please read the individual reviews.
Keep in mind these are readings from the surface of the mats or applicators. You need to reference the PEMF Field Distribution section to see how the levels drop at various distances away from each device and at different locations to get the best idea of the real PEMF intensity you will receive. PEMF mats tend to have much slower drop-off rates than individual pad applicators, so from several inches away you may actually get more intensity from a moderate-intensity PEMF mat than a much higher-intensity PEMF applicator.
| Device | Peak Gauss | Average Energy Induced (volts) |
| Healthyline High Intensity Jet Mat | 30.70 | 9.3 |
| Healthyline Matrix Pad | 43.6 | 9.65 |
| Healthyline Multi-Wave Plat | 6.3 | 1.957 |
| Healthyline Basic controller / TAJ & TAO mats | 18.5 | 5.21 |
| Omi Beyond (Sine Wave 99Hz) | 12.2 | 1.67 |
| Omi Standard Mat | 4.5 | 1.792 |
| Omi Ring | 6 | 2.373 |
| Omi Pad | 4.7 | 0.135 |
| Bemer 3000 Mat | 1.05 | 0.423 |
| Bemer 3000 B Spot | 90.3 | 2.571 |
| Bemer Pro Mat | 1.52 | 0.381 |
| Bemer Pro Belt | 12.5 | 0.488 |
| Bemer Pro B Spot | 95.9 | 1.93 |
| IMRS Omnium 1 Mat | 1.6 | 0.33 |
| IMRS Omnium 1 Pad | 1.5 | 0.449 |
| IMRS Omnium 1 Double Pad | 1 | 0.227 |
| QRS/ PureWave Mat | 0.9 | 0.116 |
| QRS/ PureWave Pad | 3 | 0.4 |
| BioBalance | 6.6 | 0.296 |
| Flex Pulse 10 Hz | 269.30 | 0.82 |
| Flex Pulse 999 Hz | N/A | 2.448 |
| Higher Dose | 4.7 | 1.747 |
| MiraMate Big Magic | 156.6 | 0.152 |
| MiraMate Mini | 264.9 | 0.375 |
| Neo Rhythm Pad | 1.2 | 0.105 |
| Qi Coil (lucky boost) | 12.2 | 2.62 |
| Resona Health | 10.4 | 1.574 |
| AMT 01 | 557.5 | N/A |
| Sota Magnetic Pulser | 6668 | N/A |
Healthyline ( HealthyWave ) Intensity
Among PEMF mats, HealthyLine (HealthyWave) mats are in the higher-intensity range for their peak gauss compared to most other PEMF mats. They also rank highest for average energy induced over time, largely because of their longer pulse widths, which create a higher duty cycle. When running at 30 Hz at the slowest pulse width on the Multi-Wave or any of the other mats, the duty cycle is 50%, giving you much more PEMF exposure compared to mats with quicker pulse widths. The Multi-Wave mat’s advanced controller is lower intensity but can vary pulse widths if you prefer a faster pulse width comparable to many other PEMF mats in the slightly lower intensity range. You can also vary the intensity level as low as 10%, making it suitable for more sensitive individuals. The various intensity levels are 10%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%. The Multi-Wave also comes with the basic controller, which is the standard controller for the 4- and 5-therapy TAJ and TAO mat series and still has higher-than-average intensity at 18.5 peak gauss. Overall, between the two controllers you get a wide variety of intensities from low to high, with many other features we cover in the full review. If you are looking for maximum power, the new high-intensity series with a peak gauss of 30, or the Matrix Pad with a peak gauss of over 40, are great options, as both ranked highest for maximum energy induction out of all the mats.
Overall, the HealthyLine (HealthyWave) higher-intensity mats are our #1 pick for those looking for higher-intensity PEMF. They combine reasonable peak gauss, which has been found effective in many studies, while also providing the highest average energy induced. Even when comparing to higher-intensity spot applicators at 200+ gauss, the design of the HealthyLine coils and placement means the drop-off rate is much slower than a small single-coil applicator, so you can actually get higher peak intensity readings several inches away from the mats. You can use the “PEMF tester” that comes with these mats to locate exactly where the coils are if you want to target a specific area with higher intensity.
OMI PEMF Mats Intensity
The original OMI mat series had intensities measuring from 4.5 gauss to 6 gauss, but their most recent model, the OMI Beyond, made a big improvement by increasing intensity to over 12 gauss. This increase really improved the mat’s PEMF field distribution, providing a higher peak gauss throughout the mat. However, due to changes in the pulse types used, the average energy induced stayed relatively the same from the original mat to the new OMI Beyond. As we cover in the full review, this is because the OMI Beyond varies the pulse widths in most settings, and with shorter pulse widths the overall duty cycle is lower. This is why, even though the intensity more than doubled from the original mat, the average energy induced stayed relatively the same.
Their small pad is fairly unremarkable because it has one coil positioned in the middle along with one in each corner, making its drop-off rate very rapid. The small pad only pulses at around 8 Hz, making the average energy induced quite low. The OMI Ring is a much more interesting device, as it has multiple coils throughout the ring, creating a slow drop-off near the center of the ring. This is especially good because typically the reason for high intensity is the rapid drop-off rate. With the OMI Ring, you can put your arm or leg inside the ring and still receive more than 5% of the peak intensity.
Bemer 3000 & Bemer Pro Intensity
Both Bemer mats we tested — the Bemer 3000 and Bemer Pro — had fairly low intensity on their main mats: 1 gauss for the Bemer 3000, increasing to 1.5 gauss for the Bemer Pro. Even though the intensity increased in the Bemer Pro, the average energy induced stayed relatively the same, as the Bemer Pulse did change between these two series. Read the full review for the full details and testing results.
The B-Spot is a spot applicator that Bemer does not advertise as high intensity, but in both series we tested, the B-Spots were over 90 gauss and start providing more mid- to high-range average energy induced compared to most other mats, excluding the HealthyLine (HealthyWave) mats, which are much higher. It is nice that Bemer has a higher-intensity applicator, as for small source-point applicators, higher intensity is important. The Bemer Pro also comes with a belt, which measured around 12.5 gauss. This is a nice option to get higher intensity than their full-sized mat with a little more targeted application, as you can wrap it around any desired area — it is quite flexible. The Bemer mat has 10 intensity levels, letting you use lower intensities if desired. We have tested the exact measurements for each intensity level: level 10 is 100% intensity, while level 1 is 10% intensity.
IMRS Omnium 1 / IMRS 2000 / IMRS Prime
For these tests we primarily tested the Omnium 1 but also tested the IMRS 2000, which had nearly identical results. Since the IMRS Prime advertises the same intensity levels, it is safe to assume the testing is the same across all versions. Swiss Bionics advertises their intensity at 0.55 gauss at the foot of the mat. From our tests, we found the bottom third of the mat had the highest intensity at 1.6 gauss, the middle at 1.1 gauss, and the head at 0.6 gauss. The IMRS pillow was measured slightly lower at 1.5 gauss, the Helmholtz pads at 1 gauss, and surprisingly the IMRS 2000 probe measured at 38.5 gauss, even though this is advertised at a much lower intensity.
The average energy induced was low in all the devices, as this is a low-intensity device. There are 8 intensity modes labeled from “sensitive” to 400; the intensity ratings are proportional to their relative intensities, with 400 being the highest at 1.6 gauss at the foot of the mat. The “sensitive” setting we would describe as a gimmick, as the intensity measured was 8 milligauss — 10x lower than the “10” intensity level. The reading is almost nonexistent at the surface of the mat, meaning above the mat you are virtually getting no PEMF exposure at all. For details on all the intensity settings and a full review of the IMRS PEMF mat series, read the full review.
The IMRS does have a heart rate variability monitor that will change the intensity throughout your PEMF session. We have not explored this setting too much, but with the mat already being fairly low intensity with average PEMF field distribution, having it drop to the very low settings based on your heart rate would likely mean you get periods of your session where you receive little to no PEMF therapy if it cycles to the sensitive setting or even some of the very low settings.
QRS / PureWave PEMF Mat Intensity
The QRS, also known as the PureWave PEMF mat, is very low intensity at less than 1 gauss, but the included pad is more intense at 3 gauss. This leaves both mats with low average energy induced, even though the QRS / PureWave does use pulse bursts, giving you a lot of pulses per second. Luckily, this mat ranked high in PEMF distribution, which can somewhat make up for the low intensity when comparing it to other low-intensity mats. This mat has 3 intensity levels: sensitive, medium, and intensive. The mat gauss readings of 0.9 gauss (main mat) and 3 gauss (pad) are on the Basics mode on the intensive setting. On the Relax mode there is no intensive level. Their sensitive mode we would also describe as somewhat of a gimmick, as like the IMRS sensitive mode, the intensity is so low at the surface of the mat it is almost undetectable at 20 milligauss for the main mat and 40 milligauss for the pad, meaning above the mat you are getting little to no PEMF therapy with any measurable intensity. This leaves really only 2 intensity settings that are useful in our opinion. To learn about all the details of the intensity settings and more, please read the full review.
BioBalance PEMF Mat Intensity
The BioBalance PEMF Mat by Dr. Pawluk, who advocates for high intensity, was found to be a relatively low-intensity mat from our testing. While this mat advertises 10 gauss, the highest reading we could achieve was 6.6 gauss, and this was pushing into the mat to get the sensor as close to the coils as possible. This mat does not use traditional PEMF pulses and instead uses continuous EMFs with carrier signals. For more details, read the full review on the BioBalance PEMF Mat. Our testing revealed that continuous EMF programs produced the highest average energy induced, but that was still low compared to most PEMF mats. This, coupled with the below-average PEMF distribution, leaves this mat not providing much intensity above the surface.
FlexPulse PEMF Device Intensity
The FlexPulse is another PEMF device by Dr. Pawluk. This one is higher intensity, with a peak reading of just over 269 gauss on the 7–8 Hz setting using a single applicator. This PEMF applicator’s peak intensities get weaker at higher frequencies and are weaker when you connect both pads together. While it is advertised that you can get more intensity by stacking the PEMF pads than using a single pad, we found this not to be the case. The numbers provided in the manual add together the intensity of each pad, but in reality, when stacking the pads, one of the pads is farther away than the other, making the stacked intensity still weaker than just using a single pad. Read the full review for more details.
The average energy induced is lower than you would expect at 0.82, even with the high peak gauss of 269. This is due to the very quick pulse width. Some devices, like the FlexPulse and MiraMate, achieve very high gauss readings by shortening the pulse duration to create a very quick rise. The downside is the duty cycle becomes extremely low, which is why the average energy induced is lower than you may expect. At 999 Hz, while the peak gauss is lower, the average induced energy was higher at almost 2.5, due to the fact there are a lot more pulses even though the pulse duration is very short. Overall this device can produce a higher peak intensity with slightly above-average induced energy.
When doing our tests we had to apply adjustments due to the quick pulse width being outside the sensor’s broadband measuring range. Normally this sensor outputs 1 mG = 1 mV for certain pulse widths, but the FlexPulse’s pulse was faster, meaning it was outputting lower millivolts per milligauss measured, which is why the meter readings are lower.
Higher Dose PEMF Mat Intensity
The Higher Dose PEMF Mat was mid-intensity at about 4.7 gauss. As it is an imitation of the HealthyLine (HealthyWave) mats, it is 4x lower in intensity than their comparable 4- and 5-therapy TAJ and TAO mats. They do use the same pulse width, so at their highest frequency setting you still have a duty cycle that provides decent average energy induced at just over 1.7 volts. However, this mat lacks in PEMF distribution, being below average in our testing, so you would not get the full benefit of this intensity over many parts of the mat. You can read the full review for more information on the Higher Dose PEMF mat.
MiraMate PEMF Intensity
We have tested both the MiraMate Big Magic Pad and MiraMate Mini, a PEMF applicator similar to the FlexPulse. Both devices are on the higher-intensity side, with 156 peak gauss on the Big Magic and 265 gauss on the MiraMate Mini. The MiraMate Big Magic has 2 intensity settings: the low one is around 81 gauss. The MiraMate Mini has 3 intensity settings, with the medium at 159 gauss and the low at 109 gauss. All the pulses are very quick, so the average energy induced is low. This is also due to there only being about 8 pulses per second on both devices, without other frequency settings. I had to apply adjustments like with the FlexPulse to account for the short pulse width, but only ended up with 0.15 volts for the Big Magic and 0.37 volts for the MiraMate Mini, which was on the lower end of average energy induced. The pulses also tend to vary in intensity a bit, which could also be part of the reason for the lower average readings. Overall these devices provide high peak gauss, but the pulses are very short and there are only about 8 per second, making the duty cycles extremely short at less than 1%.
NeoRhythm PEMF Pad Intensity
For the NeoRhythm we tested both the headband and the PEMF pad. While NeoRhythm advertises 25 gauss, we found the peak gauss to be only around 1.2 gauss, although there could be some margin of error due to their very short pulse width. It is certainly less than 3 gauss, as we could not get any reading on the F.W. Bell gauss meter, which was correctly able to measure other short-pulse-duration mats like the MiraMate. The NeoRhythm headband is about 75% as intense as their pad. There are 3 intensity settings advertised as 2.5 mT, 0.5 mT, and 0.25 mT, with intensities measured at 1.2 gauss, 0.3 gauss, and 0.15 gauss. The average energy induced was also very low, with only 0.1 volts at the highest setting at 54 Hz, which is due to the low intensity and short pulse width. The pad also had below-average PEMF field distribution, making it fairly poor at delivering its already very low intensity. The NeoRhythm is primarily marketed for stimulating brainwaves, and higher intensity may not be needed, as many people have left positive reviews regarding this. But as a PEMF applicator for other purposes, this mat falls short in all categories related to intensity. For more information on the NeoRhythm, you can read the full review.
Qi Coil PEMF Intensity
The Qi Coil is a PEMF device more based around frequencies, but it also has some reasonable intensity at over 12 gauss. This is on the “Lucky Boost” program, as many other programs are running at lower intensities. The average energy induced was over 2.6 volts, which is in the mid- to upper range compared to many other devices. This is largely due to the types of programs the Qi Coil runs. The Qi Coil operates at various higher-frequency pulse bursts, so the duty cycle ends up being relatively high. It is certainly advertised more as a frequency device with more subtle frequency effects not based purely on PEMF application, but it could be used as a spot PEMF therapy device, as while the peak gauss is relatively low compared to others, the average gauss is higher. To learn more about the Qi Coil, read the full review.
Resona Health PEMF Intensity
The Resona Health PEMF device is similar to the Qi Coil in that we would classify it more as a frequency device, focusing on more subtle effects from the frequencies and not purely PEMF therapy. Its peak gauss is over 10, so technically this can be used as a little bit of a PEMF applicator, although this is only on a small spot on the back of the device, and the intensity dissipates rapidly as you move further away. It also operates at high-frequency pulse bursts similar to the Qi Coil, but the programs seem to have less complexity. Its average energy induced is a little lower at just over 1.7, but this does vary depending on which program you use. It does have 10 different intensity levels. Due to the smaller size, it really does not cut it as a spot applicator like the Qi Coil can be used as, but should be similar on the more subtle energy frequency level for how far the field radiates. To learn more about Resona Health, check out the full review.
AMT 01 Intensity
The AMT 01 is not a PEMF device but a magnetic therapy device that runs a continuous magnetic field. This magnetic field is simply the 50 Hz (in Europe) or 60 Hz (in North America) amplified to a high intensity of 557.5 peak gauss. We did not do the average energy induced test, as our sensor for testing that is not rated for such high intensities, but since this is a continuous 60 Hz field it should be pretty similar to the peak gauss. If you want to learn more about the AMT 01, please read the full review.
Sota Magnetic Pulser PEMF Intensity
The Sota Magnetic Pulser is an extremely high-intensity PEMF device, with the peak gauss measured at 6668. The pulses are spaced out every 4.75 seconds, making this a good way to get high-intensity PEMF without potentially overdoing it. Research has shown high-intensity PEMF can be harmful due to high dosages, meaning higher frequencies and longer application times. With the pulses on this device spaced so far apart, this is a safe at-home way to receive extremely high-intensity PEMF without significant risks of over-application. Although we have worked with some more sensitive people who found this device too intense for them. We did not do the average energy induction test, as the pulses are spaced so far apart the test would not work. The device has a paddle with a large coil at the end, letting you position it anywhere on your body fairly easily, allowing you to target specific areas with this ultra-high intensity.