Research Summary
The Report on the DTS: Diathermic Syncope® controlled trials was completed in April 2021 after 20 years of trials and research.
It has been prepared by Dr Alison Small, BVM&S, CVPH(MH), DVPH(MH), PhD, GCPS(FSRA) principal research scientist at the CSIRO McMaster Laboratory in Armidale, NSW. She is a leading livestock welfare researcher in a number of areas including neonatal development and survival, alternatives to painful husbandry procedures, pain mitigation for livestock, and humane slaughter. Alison graduated as a veterinarian from the Royal Dick School of Veterinary Studies, Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1993 and spent 12 years working in mixed, mainly livestock practice.
She holds a PhD from the University of Bristol, UK, a Graduate Certificate in Food Safety Risk Assessment from the University of Maryland, USA, and was a founding member of the European College of Veterinary Public Health. This report has now been published by Meat and Livestock Australia with support from the Australian Meat Processor Corporation.
Animal Ethics Committee Approval
The first phase of research was conducted under the approval of the Victorian Department of Economic Development, Jobs Transport and Resources (DJEDJTR) Wildlife and Small Institutions Animal Ethics Committee (WSI AEC), reference 30.16.
The second phase, the pre-commercial scale validation, and third phase rotary box evaluation were approved by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Wildlife and Large Animal Ethics Committee (CWLA, AEC) reference 2019-17
The linked attachment is 30 pages and contains the full contents of the CSIRO Report published in April 2021, titled “Final Report DTS: Diathermic Syncope ® controlled trials.
It can be read by clicking on this Icon below.
“DTS controlled trials were completed in April 2021 after 20 years of research conducted by the Australian CSIRO Scientific Research Organisation.”
Additional Research
Prior to this report being published in 2021 a number of key research reports have been published on the use of the DTS system while research was conducted over a 12-year period.
RAULT, J. L, HEMSWORTH, P.H., CAKEBREAD, P.L MELLOR, D.J & JOHNSON, C.B. 2014. Evaluation of Electromagnetic energy as a humane stunning technique based on electroencephalography *EEG) of anaethetised cattle. Animal Welfare, 23, 391-400
SMALL, A., LEA, J., NIEMEYER, D., HUGHES, J., MCLEAN, D. & RALPH, J. 2019. Development of a Electromagnetic stunning system for cattle 2: Preliminary observations on behavioural responses and EEG. Research in Veterinary Science, 122, 72-80.
SMALL, A., MCLEAN, D., KEATES, H., OWEN, J. S. & RALPH, J. 2013a. Preliminary investigations into the use of Electromagnetic energy for reversible stunning of sheep. Animal Welfare, 22, 291-296.
SMALL, A., MCLEAN, D., NIEMEYER, D., LEA, J., HUGHES, J. & RALPH, J. 2015. Dielectric induction of temporary insensibility in cattle - animal trials. Sydney: Meat & Livestock Australia.
SMALL, A., MCLEAN, D., OWEN, J. S. & RALPH, J. H. 2013b. Electromagnetic induction of insensibility in animals: a review. Animal Welfare, 22, 287-290
Summary Section
DTS: Diathermic Syncope® has been developed over a 20-year period, with multiple stages of research during that time frame. From very early work using cadaver specimens through to animal trials, a proof-of-concept study reported in April 2021 showed that animals could be rendered unconscious using the system, and meat quality attributes were similar to those achieved using the ‘gold standard’ stunning method, penetrative captive bolt. Since then, refinements to the system have optimised energy delivery, so that the process is consistent and unconsciousness is rapidly achieved. Recent research has demonstrated that animals can recover fully from the induced unconsciousness, and that there is minimal impact on the tissues of the brain: findings that may be of interest to the religious markets.
Recent Research Papers
Small, A., I. Jenson, A. Phillips, D. McLean, T. Kalinowski and J. Ralph (2025). "Cattle recover completely from unconsciousness induced by controlled application of 150–180 kJ of 915 MHz microwave energy to the forehead." Veterinary and Animal Science 29 : 100464. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vas.2025.100466
Small, A., I. Jenson, B. Fiszon, P. L. Neindre, A. Phillips, D. McLean, J. McLean, T. Kalinowski and J. Ralph (2025). "Tissue integrity impacts of application of 160–200 kJ of 915 MHz Electromagnetic energy, using the DTS: Diathermic Syncope® system, to the forehead of cattle, and alignment with the requirements of religious slaughter markets." Veterinary and Animal Science 29: 100464. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vas.2025.100464
Proof-of-concept
To read a report on the proof-of-concept research: P.PIP.0528-final-report_no-appendices (or on the MLA website p.pip.0528-final-report.pdf) – 300 pages
To read a report on the development of the prototype system used for the proof-of-concept research: V.SRP.0002-final-report.docx – 104 pages
Publications related to proof-of-concept development
Small, A., D. McLean, J. S. Owen and J. H. Ralph (2013). "Electromagnetic induction of insensibility in animals: a review." Animal Welfare 22: 287-290. https://doi.org/10.7120/09627286.22.2.287
Small, A., D. McLean, H. Keates, J. S. Owen and J. Ralph (2013). "Preliminary investigations into the use of Electromagnetic energy for reversible stunning of sheep." Animal Welfare 22: 291-296. https://doi.org/10.7120/09627286.22.2.291
Rault, J. L., P. H. Hemsworth, P. L. Cakebread, D. J. Mellor and C. B. Johnson (2014). "Evaluation of Electromagnetic energy as a humane stunning technique based on electroencephalography (EEG) of anaesthetised cattle." Animal Welfare 23(4): 391-400. http://dx.doi.org/10.7120/09627286.23.4.391
McLean, D., L. Meers, J. Ralph, J. S. Owen and A. Small (2017). "Development of an Electromagnetic energy delivery system for reversible stunning of cattle." Research in Veterinary Science 112(1): 13-17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rvsc.2016.12.010
Small, A., J. Lea, D. Niemeyer, J. Hughes, D. McLean and J. Ralph (2019). "Development of a electromagnetic system for cattle 2: Preliminary observations on behavioural responses and EEG." Research in Veterinary Science 122: 72-80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rvsc.2018.11.010
Small, A. and J. Hughes (2022). "A Preliminary Comparison of Beef Carcases Stunned using DTS: Diathermic Syncope® or Captive Bolt in Terms of Selected Meat Quality Attributes and Plasma Biomarker Concentrations." Animal Review 9(1): 13-23. https://doi.org/10.18488/92.v9i1.318
Musk, G. C. and C. B. Johnson (2024). "Commentary: A Comparison of the Methods of the Pre-Slaughter Stunning of Cattle in Australia—Mechanical, Electrical, and Diathermic Syncope." Animals 14(21): 3141. https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/14/21/3141
Our team
The research and development of DTS: Diathermic Syncope ® has been a collaborative effort bringing together a broad range of skillsets.
Advanced Electromagnetic Technologies bring high-power Electromagnetic engineering and software development, led by David McLean, a Electromagnetic engineer with over 30 years’ experience in Electromagnetic process development.
CSIRO’s Dr Alison (Ali) Small, Principal Research Scientist and veterinarian, led the animal science research team.
Other collaborators have included Professor Craig Johnson from Massey University, NZ, and Dr Jean-Loup Rault from University of Melbourne (now with the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria).