What 361 Frequency Points Actually Means
Medically reviewed by
4 independent reviewers
Andrew Conrad Barile, PT, DPT
Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) | Licensed Physical Therapist (PT) | CEO and Founder, Xtreem Pulse LLC
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Dr. Andrew Conrad Barile is a Doctor of Physical Therapy and the CEO and Founder of Xtreem Pulse LLC, the engineering company behind PureLift. He earned his Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Daemen College and is a licensed physical therapist.
He brings over two decades of clinical and entrepreneurial experience across physical therapy, craniosacral therapy and medical device innovation, built on a working knowledge of human anatomy and muscle physiology.
For PureLift LAB he reviews how current is delivered across all ten levels, from sub-sensory nanocurrent and skin-level microcurrent to motor-level EMS, and how the Infuse pass fits into the same ten-minute routine.
Bertica M. Rubio, M.D.
Board-Certified Physician, Dartmouth Medical School | Medical Director, Antiaging Regenerative Medicine Clinic
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Dr. Bertica M. Rubio is a board-certified physician and Medical Director of the Antiaging Regenerative Medicine Clinic in Redlands, California. She earned her Doctor of Medicine from Dartmouth Medical School and completed her pediatrics residency at UC Irvine Medical Center.
With decades of clinical experience, she specialises in age management medicine, regenerative medicine, wound healing and growth factor therapies, and her practice integrates evidence-based medical science with advanced aesthetic treatment.
For PureLift LAB she reviews articles for medical accuracy across the whole dial, from the gentle nanocurrent and microcurrent settings through to muscle-level EMS and the Infuse pass.
Daniel Grinberg, MD, FACS
Board-Certified Otolaryngologist | Head and Neck Surgeon | Fellow, American College of Surgeons | Mount Sinai
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Daniel Grinberg, MD, FACS is a board-certified otolaryngologist and head and neck surgeon at ENT and Allergy Associates in West Nyack, New York. He earned his medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.
He completed his otolaryngology residency at New York University Medical Center, serves as Assistant Clinical Professor at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and is a Fellow of both the American College of Surgeons and the American Academy of Otolaryngology.
For PureLift LAB he brings a wider clinical lens, connecting at-home facial stimulation from microcurrent to EMS to the anatomy underneath, with the same rigour we apply to every device specification.
Prof. Dr. med. Ivo Buschmann
Chair of Angiology, Medizinische Hochschule Brandenburg | Clinic Director, University Clinic for Angiology
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Prof. Dr. med. Ivo Buschmann is Chair of Angiology at the Medizinische Hochschule Brandenburg Theodor Fontane and Clinic Director of the University Clinic for Angiology at the Brandenburg University Hospital.
He trained at the University of Hamburg, was a Max Planck Society Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, and held senior consultant posts at the Charite Universitatsmedizin Berlin before his appointment as Chair in 2016.
One of Europe's leading authorities on arteriogenesis, with over 150 peer-reviewed publications and US and EU patents, he reviews for PureLift LAB how the evidence on electrical stimulation is read and where its limits lie.
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361 frequency points between 1,370 and 1,730 Hz is a figure that appears on every page we publish and almost never gets explained.
This article covers what actually decides the answer, such as:
- Frequency and amplitude are different things
- Where the number comes from
- Why vary it at all
- What it feels like in practice
- What the specification does not claim
and many more!
It is an engineering specification, not a result, and the difference between those two is the point of this page.
Key Points:
Frequency is how often pulses arrive; amplitude is how strong each one is, and only the first is varied.
The range runs 1,370 to 1,730 Hz, which is 360 Hz wide, giving 361 points at 1 Hz spacing.
The level you select controls amplitude and the modulation does not override it.
The purpose is delaying accommodation, which is a comfort and consistency argument.
A frequency specification does not predict a cosmetic outcome, and we are not claiming it does.
Frequency and amplitude are different things
Amplitude is how much current each pulse delivers, measured in milliamps, and it is what the dial on the device controls. PureLift publishes 7 mA at 500 ohms for Face and Pro, 7.7 mA for Pro Edition and 9 mA for Pro Plus and GLOW.
Frequency is how many pulses arrive per second, measured in hertz, and it is the variable being modulated.
Keeping those apart matters because a modulating device is not changing how strong the session is behind your back. The level you chose is the level you get, and what varies underneath it is the timing pattern.
Where the number comes from
The band runs from 1,370 Hz to 1,730 Hz. That span is 360 Hz wide, and stepping through it at 1 Hz intervals gives 361 distinct points including both ends.
So the figure is arithmetic rather than marketing: it is the count of positions in the range at the spacing used.
Randomised is a word that gets used loosely for this, and cycled is more accurate. The sequence varies rather than being drawn from a hat, and nothing about the design requires true randomness.
Why vary it at all
Present a nerve with an identical signal repeatedly and its response threshold drifts upward, so the same current produces less effect while the dial has not moved. That is accommodation.
Varying the signal delays that drift, because nervous systems prioritise change over constancy.
Downey and colleagues tested a modulation strategy against constant frequency in a neuromuscular protocol and found it extended a defined performance endpoint (PMID 21996798). Papaiordanidou and colleagues report a case where modulation did not help (10.1371/journal.pone.0084740).
Both are limb protocols rather than facial ones, so they support the design principle rather than proving a facial outcome.
What it feels like in practice
A session that stays consistent rather than fading toward the end, which is the practical benefit and is a comfort argument rather than a results argument.
You will not perceive the individual frequency changes; at these rates they are far faster than sensation resolves.
Pro Plus and GLOW add PDM++, which is a different variable again: a bipolar pulse that builds and releases charge gradually rather than switching abruptly, so the same power lands more smoothly.
What the specification does not claim
It does not claim a deeper reach, since depth is a function of current, pulse characteristics and tissue rather than of how many frequencies are in a list.
It does not claim a better cosmetic result, because no study has compared modulated against fixed frequency for facial appearance.
It does not claim that accommodation is eliminated, only delayed.
And 361 is not better than 300 in any way anyone has measured; the count follows from the range and the spacing rather than being an optimised figure.
How to compare it against another brand
Ask whether their frequency is fixed or varied, and if varied, across what range.
Ask for the amplitude and the impedance it was measured at, since that is the number that decides which band the device works in.
Ask for the pulse width, since charge delivered depends on how long each pulse lasts as well as how high it goes.
Most brands cannot answer more than one of those three, which is itself informative.
For the mechanism, see accommodation, and for the study, inside the Downey modulation study.