"I like to teach, talk and communicate but I have to understand fully and really believe in what I teach," says Kristin Schaefer Centofanti, an expert in the field of Biostimulation . She is the daughter of Herman Schaefer, a physicist who developed the first stimulation unit for slimming, toning and exercise purposes.

Today Kristin, who is a linguist and bilingual by birth, lectures around the world in English, French and Spanish on the subject of the Body Electric.

Her knowledge and involvement with the application of stimulation impulses to the body and face began at a very early age as she explains, "My father moved to the UK from USA in the early 1960s. He was interested in the field of bio stimulation as he felt that effortless exercise could benefit an increasingly sedentary population who had little time to tone up in the gym. At this time engineers in the UK were at the forefront of cutting edge electronic developments so my father, with the help of British electronic engineers, developed the first portable, battery operated Electro muscular stimulation unit.

"I was ten years old when my father first started the business in a factory in North London. Initially I was interested in the manufacturing process and I became very familiar with the circuitry and assembly process of the early stimulators. Gradually my interest shifted and I focused more on the biological research and clinical applications of Bio Stimulation. My mother is also an expert on the subject as her speciality was treating animals, particularly racehorses, greyhounds and breeding bulls. At home the subject was a hot topic of conversation at all times, practically every aspect of my life was dominated by Electrotherapy in one form or another. Once Herman Schaefer’s units had received medical approval and were launched in the UK, Kristin's involvement increased and she began to travel the country with her mother demonstrating the machine.

"As my mother was the only person in the country who knew where to actually apply the pads, she was obviously the best person to demonstrate the machine," says Kristin. "A team of physiologists, who were aware that motor points existed but had not been pinpointed very accurately, worked to map the motor points of the body and then passed on the information to my mother.

This was the real success of the machine, because if you place the pads correctly and stimulate the muscles accurately you obtain a precise figure improvement, as you are able to, slim, firm and ton up exactly where you want to. Once the machines became established my mother realised it was not just a machine for home exercise, but in fact a marvellous Beauty Salon treatment as the customer could simply lay back and relax while a skilled and trained therapist applied up to 20 pads for total body shaping.

Beauty at that time was really an extension of hairdressing, salons offered waxing and nails, whilst body treatments were hardly in existence. It was my mother who saw that beauty treatments could incorporate figure shaping, offering not just a cosmetic effect but a real health improvement and it was she who persuaded my father to manufacture a professional unit."

Reports relating to the subject of Biostimulatiion were being compiled around the world in various languages, which Kristin translated and it was during this time that her introduction into lecturing inadvertently came about.

"I noticed a tremendous disparity between the medical and beauty fields and a general lack of common sense particularly relating to the subject of Biostimulation. I saw the use of medical jargon that no-one understood and a vast amount of information being gathered all around the globe that was not being pulled together. There was a need to compile the information and express it in layman’s terms, bringing the information to the practising therapist and expressing it in a user friendly manner. I realised that if I could grasp the principles I might also be able to explain the concepts to others.

This has been my role ever since. I read scientific research papers and distil the information for our engineers, in order for them to perfect new units, I also simplify the vocabulary and ensure that the new information is presented with clarity so that Therapists of all levels can understand the applications and introduce them as treatments for face and body. My latest project has been to co-author a book on the Medical and Threapeutic Applications of Biostimulation with eminent scientists and researchers such as Professor Gerta Vrbova of University College London and Lorraine Clapham of the Wessex Neurological Centre.

Through the years Kristin uncovered a wealth of new applications and health benefits with Bio stimualtion. She realised that with the application of the correct sequence the tone of the muscle itself could be improved, it was not just a superficial beauty treatment that that was being offered.

"Therapists did not really understand the differences between Bio stimulation and real exercise and this was the biggest challenge I faced. I realised that new units had to be developed to encompass the latest research and technology. After all from the 1960s to the 1990s, a revolution had taken place and microchips with vast memories and Programming capacity were now available. These microchips made the signal extraordinarily accurate, comfortable and fast, in fact far more similar to the chemical signals generated by the body itself. We cal this Bioptic stimulation as it o involves merging a optic wire into the signalling system. At this time I began working with a team of engineers and physiologists to produce a completely new concept in Face and body shaping for the professional market.
Thus emerged the Futura Pro.

My idea was compile a “wish list” from all the information I had gathered from Health and Beauty Therapists over the last twenty years. The Futura Pro was produced to address this wish list and to create the “perfect” machine.

With the fast, effective and extremely comfortable new pulses, Ultratone could adapt the separate signals and produce a virtual language for the body.

“We call this the Trophic Code which can be compared to the signalling process of the Morse code. We can now not only stimulate muscles at any depth and length, but also access the lymphatic and micro circulation systems, blood flow, fat and connective tissue to obtain concentrated and complete body or face shaping Programs. Sequencing these pulses in set patterns then embedding them automatically in microchips ensures the ease of use and total safety of the Ultratone units.

The New Futura Pro includes a “Smart” customer database that would automatically calculate the correct Programs and deliver updated Treatments suitable for the various desires and needs of different customers. An all in one system for face and body. An easy to follow on screen step by step, a padding up guideline that was foolproof and a price that was affordable.

The concept was to provide the Therapist with one machine that would enable him or her to start a business and be operational in 24 hours, with an attractive profit margin and totally reliable results. Also to build a durable unit that would be upgradable and last a good 20 years so that the Salon could maximise its investment and bring in tangible profits.

In fact I tried to produce a unit that I would be happy to buy.

The Futura Pro is now launched and certainly its extraordinary success in the UK and internationally seems to vindicate Kristin’s vision and comitment to the Bio stimulation field. The professional Beauty and Health industry as a whole have changed dramatically since Kristin's first introduction in the 1960s.

"It is a very exciting field in which to be involved, it has exploded in the past ten years and, as we enter the new Millennium, I feel certain that many new breakthroughs are sure to emerge taking Biostimulation into a new science altogether, virtually unrecognisable from what it was. It is a fast moving industry, and a great industry in which to be involved."