Yong-Heum Lee

Differences in Electrical Conduction Properties Between Meridians and Non-meridians

Therapy using the acupuncture meridian system is an important part of traditional Chinese medicine. The purpose of this study was to investigate the electrical conduction properties of the meridians. The current conduction and potential profiles were compared after switching the current direction in the Hegu (LI-4) and Quchi (LI- 11) meridians and over a non-acupuncture point 1 cm from Quchi (LI-11) in 20 healthy subjects. Both meridians demonstrated significantly higher conductivity between Hegu (LI-4) and Quchi (LI-11) than between Hegu (LI-4) and the non-acupuncture point. The direction of current, peak frequency and absolute potential values in the direction Hegu (LI-4) to Quchi (LI-11) differed significantly from those in the direction Quchi (LI-11) to Hegu (LI-4). These results suggest that the conducting pathways are stronger in the meridians than in the non-meridians and that preferential conduction directions exist between two acupuncture points. These results are consistent with the theories of Qi-circulation and traditional Chinese medicine.

EFFECTS OF QI-THERAPY (EXTERNAL QIGONG) ON CARDIAC AUTONOMIC TONE: A RANDOMIZED PLACEBO CONTROLLED STUDY

Heart-rate variability (HRV) was compared in 40 subjects receiving external Qi-therapy (QT) or placebo control therapy, in a randomized placebo controlled design experiment. There were significant time, and group × time interactions in heart rate (HR), low frequency (LF), high frequency (HF), and LF/HF. These suggest that QT reduced the HR and increased HRV as indicated by a reduced LF/HF power ratio of HRV. These findings suggest that QT stabilizes the sympathovagal function more than placebo therapy.

Wearable EDA Sensor Gloves using Conducting Fabric and Embedded System

We developed wearable EDA sensor gloves using conducting fabric and embedded system. EDA(Electro-dermal Activity) signal is an electric response on the skin of the human body. There are SCL(Skin Conductance Level) and SCR(Skin Conductance Response) in EDA. Mostly, SCL consists of DC elements. On the other hand, SCR consists of AC elements. We use the relationship between the drowsiness condition and EDA signal We made EDA sensors using conducting fabric instead of Agcl electrode for a more suitable wearable device. And we used an embedded system for EDA signal acquisition and processing instead of a personal computer, which is connected to the EDA sensor gloves through conducting fabric lines. Also, the embedded system is linked to a Notebook PC that shows the results of EDA signal processing analysis and gives proper feedback to the user. This system, for example, can be used in detecting and preventing drowsiness driving accidents for automobile drivers.

Effects of Acupuncture on Potential Along Meridians of Healthy Subjects and Patients with Gastric Disease

The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences in bio-potential in the stomach meridians of 20 normal healthy control subjects (NHC) and 20 patients with gastric disease (PGD). We measured changes in potential between ST-39 and ST-37 on the stomach meridian in response to invasive insertion of a needle at ST-36. The response patterns of NHC were regular in both the left and right meridians, whereas the response patterns of PGD were irregular. The potential of the NHC was significantly higher than that of the PGD group. The potential values in the left and right meridians of NHC were the same. However, the potential in the right meridian was significantly higher than that in the left meridian of PGD (p < 0.001). This study indicates that there may be changes in Qi or in the electrical properties of meridians according to health status, reflected in the regularity of the response to acupuncture or in the level of potential along meridians. Therefore, it may be possible to make a diagnosis from the state of a meridian by comparing levels of potential difference and its regularity.

Investigation of Electrical Responses to Acupuncture Stimulation: The Effect of Electrical Grounding and Insulation Conditions

Acupuncture in Oriental medicine has been widely used as a core therapeutic method due to its minimal side-effects and therapeutic efficacy. However, the electrical response to acupuncture stimulation (ERAS) has not been clearly studied under acupuncture conditions that might affect the efficacy of acupuncture therapy. In this study, the ERAS was objectively investigated by measuring meridian electric potentials (MEPs) when the electrical grounding conditions of the operator and subject were varied, and when the insulation conditions of acupuncture needle were varied. MEPs between Sang-geoheo (ST37) and Ha-geoheo (ST39) of the Stomach Meridian (ST) were measured by stimulating Jok-samni (ST36) with an acupuncture needle. For non-insulated acupuncture stimulation (NIAS), the average MEP peak was 148.6 +/- 20.6 when neither the operator nor the subject were electrically grounded, 23.1 +/- 8.8 when the subject only was electrically grounded, 348 +/- 76.8 when the operator only was electrically grounded, and 19.9 +/- 4.7 when both the operator and the subject were electrically grounded. The MEPs presented various magnitudes and patterns depending on the electrical grounding conditions. The MEP pattern was very similar to that of the charge and discharge of a capacitor. For insulated acupuncture stimulation (IAS), the average MEP peak was 20 +/- 4 in all electrical grounding conditions, which is not a significant electric response for acupuncture stimulation. In terms of electricity, this study verified that acupuncture therapy might be affected by acupuncture conditions such as (1) the electrical grounding condition of the operator and the subject and (2) the insulation condition of the acupuncture needle.

Is there any energy transfer during acupuncture

Acupuncture therapy is based on the principle of restoring equilibrium of the bodys energy state by regulating the flow of Qi in the corresponding meridians and acupoints. The purpose of this study was to determine whether bio-energy transfer occurs during acupuncture of the meridians. We treated 20 normal healthy subjects with acupuncture and measured changes in the direct current (DC) potential between the stomach meridian points ST-39 and ST-37 in response to invasive insertion of a needle at ST-36. Using a crossover study design, the practitioner performed the procedure on each subject once with bare (uncovered) hands (ABH) and once wearing surgical gloves (ASH) to shield the electric energy transfer. ABH produced a response pattern to each stimulation, whereas ASH produced a response pattern only to the first step. ABH elicited a significantly higher response potential than did ASH (p < 0.001). These results suggest that there may be bio-energy (Qi) transfer during acupuncture along the meridians. This transferred bio-energy (Qi) seems to act as an electromotive force, which is purported to remove the stagnation or blockage of energy and restore an equilibrium state.

Comparison of 2 methods of non-invasive treatment between transcutaneous electrical stimulation and pulsed electromagnetic field stimulation as replacement of invasive manual acupuncture.

The aim of this study was to find the non-invasive optimal alternative method for Manual Acupuncture. Existing researches had reported that Transcutaneous Electrical Acupoint Stimulation (TEAS) was an effective treatment method instead of manual acupuncture. In place of the TEAS, we suggested the Pulsed Electromagnetic Fields (PEMFs). Thus, we designed the PEMFs system which can stimulate only an acupoint. There have been no researches which reported therapeutic effect when stimulating at an identical acupoint by TEAS and PEMFs. Hence, this study investigated the therapeutic effect on the muscle fatigue after the strenuous knee extension/flexion exercise by two stimulations. We selected the stimulation method of both TEAS and PEMFs by using 2Hz biphasic rectangular wave pulse and pulse width 0.2ms. The magnetic flux was the 30.92mT (309.2gauss) at 2 Hz. The electromyogram (EMG) and the maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) at rectus femoris were measured. The Median Frequency (MF) at TEAS group was significantly effective at 6 minutes (p=0.499). The PEMFs group was recovered to the MF rapidly after 4 minutes (p=0.166). The results of the peak torque indicated that both non-stimulation group and TEAS group did not recover to the peak torque at pre-exercise during the recovery period (p<0.05). In contrast, the significant treatment effect of PEMFs group was found after 14 minutes (p=0.135). The results of this study demonstrated that PEMFs were better than TEAS as a non-invasive method to replace the manual acupuncture.

Development of acupoints discrimination system using electric properties of acupoints and non-acupoints

The conventional acupuncture-point stimulus pattern uses direct current (DC) to discriminate acupuncture point and meridian lines, which are fundamental to diagnosis and treatment in Oriental medicine. However, DC is insufficiently reliable in discriminating these acupuncture points and lines. To overcome these problems, the authors extracted optimal parameters (e.g., square-like waveform with a frequency of 3∼5 kHz) with a single power alternating current (SPAC) stimulus pattern of 1.28V. The SPAC stimulus pattern has little or no effect on cells and the bodys physiological state and minimizes polarization and ionization of cells because it uses low voltage and alternating current. The authors developed a new meridian discrimination system that can be used with the SPAC.

Optical polarimetry probe system for glucose concentration monitoring

Over the last two decades, optical polarimetry method has been applied for glucose concentration monitoring in biological media such as aqueous humor and cell culture media as a non-invasive alternative method. Compared to glucose analyzer and electronic analyte sensor, the advantages of polaimetry method are non-ionizing radiation to interrogate the sample, non-interference with the sample, needless of consumable reagents, use of readily available sources, and prospect of miniaturizing the optics. Commercial polarimeter is widely used to measure the concentration of chemical compounds with optical activity. However, this device was based on off-line measurement so that it needs sample extraction process to measure the concentration of sample. This process does not reflect the real-time status of sample concentration and sample contamination can be occurred during sample extraction when applied to cell culture process. In polarimetry method, the measurement sensitivity can be controlled by varying optical path length. However, in current polarimeter, the sample cell should be exchanged to vary the optical path length. This process is a time consuming and might cause sample contamination in cell culture process. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a new polarimetry method which can measure the real-time status of sample concentration without sample extraction. In this paper, we introduce a new polarimetry probe system which might be utilized to monitor glucose concentration during cell culture process. It was designed to have variable optical path lengths to control the optical rotation angle of polarized light. We describe the feasibility of the system and the preliminary results.

Use of Pupil Size to Determine the Effect of Electromagnetic Acupuncture on Activation Level of the Autonomic Nervous System

Magnetic fields are widely considered as a method of treatment to increase the therapeutic effect when applied to acupoints. Hence, this study proposes a new method which creates significant stimulation of acupoints by using weak magnetic fields. We conducted this experiment in order to confirm the effect on the activation level of the autonomic nervous system by measuring pupil sizes in cases of stimulation by using manual acupuncture and electromagnetic acupuncture (EMA) at BL15. We selected 30 Hz of biphasic wave form with 570.1 Gauss. To confirm the biopotential by the magnetic flux density occurring in EMA that affected the activation of the autonomic nervous system, we observed the biopotential induced at the upper and the mid left and right trapezius. We observed a significant decrease in pupil size only in the EMA group (p < 0.05), thus confirming that EMA decreased the pupil size through activation of the parasympathetic nerve in the autonomic nervous system. Moreover, we confirmed that the amplitude of the biopotential which was caused by 570.1 Gauss was higher than ±20 μA. Thus, we can conclude that EMA treatment successfully activates the parasympathetic nerve in the autonomic nervous system by inducing a biotransformation by the induced biopotential.