Effects of different-intensity laser acupuncture at two adjacent same-meridian acupoints on nitric oxide and soluble guanylate cyclase releases in human.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to detect the influences of LA at nonacupoint and two adjacent acupoints of pericardium meridian on the releases of NO and sGC in 20 healthy subjects. METHODS: Different intensities (12, 24, 48 mW) of infrared laser were used for irradiating Jianshi (PC5), Ximen (PC4) acupoints and nonacupoint for 20, 40 minutes, respectively. Semi-circular tubes were taped to the skin surface and filled with NO-scavenging compound for 20 minutes to capture NO and sGC, which were measured using spectrophotometry in a blinded fashion. RESULTS: As the increase in the intensity of LA stimulation, the levels of NO releases over acupoints all were significantly increased, NO releases in nonacupoints following the same treatment only changed slightly, sGC amounts were observably enhanced over acupoints, but did not any change in nonacupoint area. Different intensities of LA treatments can sensitively affect the NO and sGC releases over acupoints. This indicated that LA-induced releases of the NO and sGC were specific to acupoints. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first evidence reporting that LA induced significant elevations of NO-sGC releases over acupoints, and the enhanced signal molecules contribute to local circulation, which improves the beneficial effects of the therapy.

In vitro assessment of effects of hyperglycemia on the optical properties of blood during coagulation using optical coherence tomography.

No published reports have demonstrated the capability of the optical coherence tomography technique for quantifying the optical coherence tomography signal slope, 1/e light penetration depth, and attenuation coefficient of hyperglycemic blood by an in vitro assessment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of hyperglycemia on optical properties during in vitro blood coagulation by optical coherence tomography. Normal whole blood acted as the control group. After 1-h coagulation, the average optical coherence tomography signal slope decreased approximately 23.3 and 16.7%, and the 1/e light penetration depths increased approximately 21.5 and 19.2% for the control and hyperglycemic groups, respectively. It could be seen from the 1/e light penetration depth evolution curves that the blood coagulation time was about (425 ± 19) s for normal whole blood and (367 ± 15) s for the hyperglycemic blood. The coagulation time decreased 13.6% for the hyperglycemic blood compared with that for normal whole blood. There was statistically significant difference in blood coagulation time between the hyperglycemic and normal whole blood (p < 0.05). The results suggested that hyperglycemia has a procoagulant effect. Our experiment was the first reported study of monitoring hyperglycemic blood coagulation using OCT. We conclude that OCT is potential technique to quantify and follow the liquid-gel transition of hyperglycemic blood coagulation.

SVM classifier of cervical histopathology images based on texture and morphological features.

BACKGROUND: Cervical histopathology image classification is a crucial indicator in cervical biopsy results. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to identify histopathology images of cervical cancer at an early stage by extracting texture and morphological features for the Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier. METHODS: We extract three different texture features and one morphological feature of cervical histopathology images: first-order histogram, K-means clustering, Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM) and nucleus feature. The original dataset used in our experiment is obtained from 20 patients diagnosed with cervical cancer, including 135 whole slide images (WSIs). Given an entire WSI, the patches on its tissue region are extracted randomly. RESULTS: We finally obtain 3,000 patches, including 1,000 normal, 1,000 hysteromyoma and 1,000 cancer images. Among them, 80% of the entire data set is randomly selected as training set and the remaining 20% as test set. The accuracy of SVM classification using first-order histogram, K-means clustering, GLAM and nucleus feature for extracting features are respectively 87.4%, 90.6%, 91.6% and 93.5%. CONCLUSIONS: The classification accuracy of the SVM combining the four features is 96.8%, and the proposed nucleus feature plays a key role in the SVM classification of cervical histopathology images.

[Comparative study of time-correlated temperature and back-scattered light intensity for human Hegu acupoint and non-acupoint tissue irradiated by near-infrared laser].

Characteristics and differences of temperature and back-scattered light intensity in different depths of 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1 mm for both human Hegu acupoint and non-acupoint tissue irradiated by 808 nm diode laser at the different power of 15, 25 and 35 mW were studied. The temperature and the back-scattered light intensity in different depths of 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1 mm for human Hegu acupoint and non-acupoint tissue were measured by using the infrared thermography and optical coherence tomography. The result shows few differences in the temperature and the back-scattered light intensity of human Hegu acupoint and non-acupoint tissue before irradiation. The temperature and back-scattered light intensity of Hegu acupoint and the non-acupoint after irradiation were significantly higher, and the temperature and back-scattered light intensity of Hegu acupoint significantly were higher than the non-acupoint areas. At 0-40 min after the irradiation, the temperature and back-scattered light intensity of Hegu acupoint and the non-acupoint area will fluctuate and gradually decrease with the passage of time. From the results above, it is clearly seen that Hegu acupoint is different from non-acupoint both in the back-scattered light intensity and temperature after irradiation, and Hegu acupoint is more sensitive to laser irradiation than non-acupoint tissue.

Microscopic second harmonic generation (SHG) from tilt-placed collagen fibrils.

We report a theoretical study of second-harmonic generation (SHG) from the collagen fibrils which have a tilt angle Φ between their axes with the plane of the polarization angle α of the linearly polarized focused light. The effects of Φ as well as α on SHG emission have been investigated. Our results show that the total strength of SHG electrical field (E(2ω)) and power (P(2ω)) reach their maximal values as Φ locates at a certain angle, here it is around 27° under all demonstrated α. When Φ < 27°, E(2ω) and P(2ω) gradually increase to their maximal value, while when Φ > 27°, they quickly drops. Specially, E(2ω) and P(2ω) are almost undetectable when Φ ≥ 45°. Also, Φ influences the distribution pattern of E(2ω), P(2ω) and their parallel (E(2ω,p), P(2ω,p)) and perpendicular (E(2ω,s), P(2ω,s)) components, such as the number of emission lobes and shape. α has unevenly impact on E(2ω) and P(2ω), the far deviation of α from x axis induce much great decrease of E(2ω) and P(2ω). α = 45° has special influence on the distribution pattern of E(2ω,s), E(2ω), P(2ω,s) as well as P(2ω) compared to those of α = 0° and 90°.

[In vivo reflectance spectroscopy study of different clearing agents on human skin optical clearing].

The changes of skin tissue reflectance spectroscopy before and after being treated with the optical clearing agents of three different types of optical clearing within the wavelength rang of 400-1 000 nm, and the degree of changes in reflectance spectroscopy of each group skin during 0-60 min at 580 nm in vivo were real-time dynamically researched. The reflectance spectroscopy of skin tissue before and after being dealt by the optical clearing agents of glycerol, glucose and propylene glycol was measured using a USB-4000 fiber spectrophotometer at 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 min. The results showed that the reflectance spectral intensity was distinctly decreased, but the reflectance was significantly increased gradually with the time prolonged. However, different optical clearing agents have different clearing progress. The relative decrease of reflectance of palm skin tissue before and after being dealt by the optical agents of 40% glycerol, 40% glucose and 40% propylene glycol during 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 min at the wavelength 580 nm is 5%, 7%, 9%, 10%, 11% and 12%, 9%, 13%, 16%, 19%, 21% and 22%, and 14%, 22%, 29%, 32%, 34% and 35%, respectively. The significant improvement in light transmittance and enhancement of light penetration through tissue was demonstrated for all solutions. The effect and processes of optical clearing of skin tissue is not only closely related to the choosing of the clearing agent type, but also related to the treatment time with the skin tissue. The clearing progress of different type optical clearing agent showed the order of 40% propylene glycol, 40% glucose and 40% glycerol.

[Reflectance spectroscopy study of low-frequency ultrasound and glycerol on skin optical clearing].

In order to find a non-invasive way to improve the efficacy of skin optical clearing with topically applied optical clearing agents, the authors researched the changes of reflectance spectroscopy of skin tissues before and after being dealt by low-frequency ultrasound and osmotic active chemical agents within the wavelength range of 400-860 nm, and the degree of changes in reflectance spectroscopy of each group skin during 0-15 min and 15-30 min at 580 nm. The measurements were performed using a AvaSpec-2048 optical fiber spectrometer with integrating-sphere setup. The results of measurements showed that there were a few changes of the reflectance spectroscopy of skin tissues in the control group (Group 1) (The skin tissue was dealt with nothing. ) during the whole observation; But in the Group 2 (The skin tissue was dealt with only low-frequency ultrasound), it was found that the reflectance of the skin tissue showed a significant increase comparing 15 min with 0 min, but the changes in reflectance of the tissues slowly restored the original form following the longer time since the ultrasound stopping; There was also a very fast changes in reflectance of the skins in the Group 3 (the skin were dealt with only 80% glycerol) compared with that in the Group 1. The authors also found that there was a very distinct decrease in the reflectance of skin tissues dealt with both low-frequency ultrasound and 80% glycerol group (Group 4), especially during the 0-15 min, and its speed was 4.0 times that of the Group 1 and 2. 3 times that of Group 3 (During 0-15 min, the reflectance of skin tissues in the Group 1 decreased 1.896%; the reflectance of skin tissue in the Group 3 decreased 3.316%; the reflectance of skin tissues in the Group 4 decreased 7.551%). From the above results, it can be clearly seen that the low-frequency ultrasound and 80% glycerol not only have synergistic effect on optical clearing of skin tissue in vitro, but can change the optical clearing of the skin tissue in a short time.

[Colon adenoma detection using Kubelka-Munk spectral function of DNA and protein bands].

Differential diagnosis of human colon adenoma was studied using the Kubelka-Munk spectral function of the DNA and protein absorption bands at 260 and 280 nm in vitro. Diffuse reflectance spectra of tissue were measured using a spectrophotometer with an integrating sphere attachment. The results of measurement showed that for the spectral range from 590 to 1 064 nm pathological changes of colon epithelial tissues were induced so that there were significant differences in the averaged values of the Kubelka-Munk function f(r infinity) and logarithmic Kubelka-Munk function log [f(r infinity)] of the DNA absorption bands at 260 nm between normal and adenomatous colon epithelial tissues, and the differences were 218% (p < 0.05) and 68.5% (p < 0.05) respectively. Pathological changes of colon epithelial tissues were induced so that there were significant differences in the averaged values of the Kubelka-Munk function f(r infinity) and logarithmic Kubelka-Munk function log [f(r infinity)] of the protein absorption bands at 280 nm between normal and adenomatous colon epithelial tissues, and the differences were 208% (p < 0.05) and 59.0% (p < 0.05) respectively. Pathological changes of colon epithelial tissues were induced so that there were significant differences in the averaged values of the Kubelka-Munk function f(r infinity) and logarithmic Kubelka-Munk function log [f(r infinity)] of the beta-carotene absorption bands at 480 nm between normal and adenomatous colon epithelial tissues, and the differences were 41.7% (p < 0.05) and 32.9% (p < 0.05) respectively. Obviously, pathological changes of colon epithelial tissues were induced so that there were significant changes in the contents of the DNA, protein and beta-carotene of colon epithelial tissues. The conclusion can be applied to rapid, low-cost and noninvasive optical biopsy of colon adenoma, and provides a useful reference.

[Gastric cancer detection using kubelka-Munk spectral function of DNA and protein absorption bands].

Differential diagnosis for epithelial tissues of normal human gastric, undifferentiation gastric adenocarcinoma, gastric squamous cell carcinomas, and poorly differentiated gastric adenocarcinoma were studied using the Kubelka-Munk spectral function of the DNA and protein absorption bands at 260 and 280 nm in vitro. Diffuse reflectance spectra of tissue were measured using a spectrophotometer with an integrating sphere attachment. The results of measurement showed that for the spectral range from 250 to 650 nm, pathological changes of gastric epithelial tissues induced that there were significant differences in the averaged value of the Kubelka-Munk function f(r infinity) and logarithmic Kubelka-Munk function log[f(r infinity)] of the DNA absorption bands at 260 nm between epithelial tissues of normal human stomach and human undifferentiation gastric cancer, between epithelial tissues of normal human stomach and human gastric squamous cell carcinomas, and between epithelial tissues of normal human stomach and human poorly differentiated cancer. Their differences were 68.5% (p < 0.05), 146.5% (p < 0.05), 282.4% (p < 0.05), 32.4% (p < 0.05), 56.00 (p < 0.05) and 83.0% (p < 0.05) respectively. And pathological changes of gastric epithelial tissues induced that there were significant differences in the averaged value of the Kubelka-Munk function f(r infinity) and logarithmic Kubelka-Munk function log[f(r infinity)] of the protein absorption bands at 280 nm between epithelial tissues of normal human stomach and human undifferentiation gastric cancer, between epithelial tissues of normal human stomach and human gastric squamous cell carcinomas, and between epithelial tissues of normal human stomach and human poorly differentiated cancer. Their differences were 86.8% (p < 0.05), 262.9% (p < 0.05), 660.1% (p < 0.05) and 34% (p < 0.05), 72. 2% (p < 0.05), 113.5% (p < 0.05) respectively. And pathological changes of gastric epithelial tissues induced that there were significant differences in the averaged value of the Kubelka-Munk function f(r infinity) and logarithmic Kubelka-Munk function log[f(r infinity)] of the carotene absorption bands at 480 nm between epithelial tissues of normal human stomach and human undifferentiation gastric cancer, between epithelial tissues of normal human stomach and human gastric squamous cell carcinomas, and between epithelial tissues of normal human stomach and human poorly differentiated cancer. Their differences were 59.5% (p < 0.05), 73% (p < 0.05), 258.9% (p < 0.05), 118.7% (p < 0.05), 139.2% (p < 0.05), and 324. 6% (p < 0.05) respectively. It is obvious that pathological changes of gastric epithelial tissues induced that there were significant changes in the contents of the DNA, protein and beta-carotene of gastric epithelial tissues. The conclusion can be applied to rapid, low-cost and noninvasive the optical biopsy for gastric cancer and provides a useful reference.

[Comparative study of reflectance spectroscopy of human laogong acupoint and non-acupoint tissues irradiated by near-infrared laser].

Characteristics and differences of reflectance spectroscopy of human Laogong acupoint and non-acupoint tissues before and after irradiation by different power of laser were studied in the spectral range from 400 to 1 000 nm. A wavelength 808 nm semiconductor laser was used for irradiation at the power of 20, 50 and 100 mW for ten minutes. Reflectance spectra of human Laogong acupoint and non-acupoint tissues were measured by using an AvaSpec-2048 optical fiber spectroscopy with an integrating sphere attachment. The result shows that before irradiation the shape of the reflectance spectra of Laogong acupoint and non-acupoint is similar, they have the same troughs at 423, 544, 577 and 980 nm, and the reflectance for Laogong acupoint and non-acupoint at these wavelengths is 17.1%, 26.1%, 25.9% and 35.0%, and 17.1%, 27.6%, 28.1% and 36.5% respectively. But from 475 to 1 000 nm, the reflectance of Laogong acupoint is smaller than that of non-acupoint. After being irradiated by semiconductor laser at the power of 20, 50 and 100 mW, there is a very significant decrease in the reflectance of Laogong acupoint compared to that before irradiation, and the higher the power, the lower the reflectance. But there is just a small decrease in the reflectance for non-acupoint compared to that before irradiation. From the above results, it is clearly seen that Laogong acupoint is different from non-acupoint on reflectance spectroscopy, and Laogong acupoint is more sensitive to laser irradiation than non-acupoint tissue.

Thermal coagulation-induced changes of the optical properties of normal and adenomatous human colon tissues in vitro in the spectral range 400-1,100 nm.

The absorption coefficients, the reduced scattering coefficients and the optical penetration depths for native and coagulated human normal and adenomatous colon tissues in vitro were determined over the range of 400-1,100 nm using a spectrophotometer with an internal integrating sphere system, and the inverse adding-doubling method was applied to calculate the tissue optical properties from diffuse reflectance and total transmittance measurements. The experimental results showed that in the range of 400-1,100 nm there were larger absorption coefficients (P < 0.01) and smaller reduced scattering coefficients (P < 0.01) for adenomatous colon tissues than for normal colon tissues, and there were smaller optical penetration depths for adenomatous colon tissues than for normal colon tissues, especially in the near-infrared wavelength. Thermal coagulation induced significant increase of the absorption coefficients and reduced scattering coefficients for the normal and adenomatous colon tissues, and significantly reduced decrease of the optical penetration depths for the normal and adenomatous colon tissues. The smaller optical penetration depth for coagulated adenomatous colon tissues is a disadvantage for laser-induced thermotherapy (LITT) and photodynamic therapy (PDT). It is necessary to adjust the application parameters of lasers to achieve optimal therapy.

[Thermal coagulation of human benign prostatic hyperplasia tissues induced changes in the absorption and scattering properties in spectral range from 590 to 1 064 nm in vitro].

The optical properties and their differences of native and coagulated human benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) tissues were studied in the spectral range from 590 to 1 064 nm in vitro. The measurements were performed using a spectrophotometer with an integrating sphere attachment, and the absorption and scattering properties were assessed from these measurements using the inverse adding-doubling method. The results of measurement showed that the thermal coagulation of BPH tissues induced obviously the decrease in the absorption coefficients in the spectral range from 590 to 1 064 nm. The peaks in the absorption coefficients for native and coagulated BPH tissues were respectively 0.438 and 0.416 mm(-1) corresponding to the same wavelength of 990 nm, the maximum difference in the absorption coefficients of native and coagulated BPH tissues is 86.79% at 1 064 nm, and the minimum difference is 4.74% at 920 nm. The thermal coagulation of BPH tissues induced an increase in the reduced scattering coefficients in the spectral range from 600 to 1 064 nm obviously, and induced a decrease in the reduced scattering coefficients at 590 nm obviously. The peaks in the reduced scattering coefficients for native and coagulated BPH tissues were respectively 1.090 and 1. 449 mm(-1) corresponding to the same wavelength of 970 nm, and other peaks in the reduced scattering coefficients for native and coagulated BPH tissues were respectively 1.116 and 1.627 mm(-1) corresponding to the same wavelength of 1 050 nm, the maximum difference in the reduced scattering coefficients of native and coagulated BPH tissues is 47.73% at 1 064 nm, and the minimum difference is 4.86% at 600 nm.

[Superficial bladder cancer detection using diffuse reflectance spectral ratio R540/R575 of oxygenated hemoglobin bands].

A low-cost, fast, and noninvasive method for early diagnosis of malignant lesions of mucosa tissue based on diffuse reflectance spectra was applied in the study of the optical biopsy of superficial human bladder cancer. In the present paper, differential diagnosis of superficial human bladder cancer was studied using the diffuse reflectance spectral ratio (R540/R575) of the oxygenated hemoglobin absorption bands at 540 and 575 nm in vitro. Diffuse reflectance spectra for mucosa/submucosa tissues of normal bladder and superficial bladder cancer were measured using a spectrophotometer with an integrating sphere attachment. The results of measurement showed that there were three the diffuse reflectance spectral dips at 415, 542 and 577 nm respectively for mucosa/submucosa tissues of normal bladder and superficial bladder cancer in the spectral range from 400 to 600 nm. The mean diffuse reflectance spectral ratio (R540/R575) of normal bladder mucosa/submucosa tissue decreased slowly with time increase after surgical excision, and the mean diffuse reflectance spectral ratio (R540/R575) of superficial bladder cancer mucosa/ submucosa tissue also decreased slowly with time increasing after surgical excision. The mean diffuse reflectance spectral ratios (R540/R575) of normal bladder mucosa/submucosa tissue were 111%, 107%, 104% and 102% after 2, 3, 4 and 5 h after surgical excision respectively, and those of superficial bladder cancer mucosa/submucosa tissue were 98.4%, 95.5%, 93.1% and 91.6% after 2, 3, 4 and 5 h after surgical excision respectively. There were significant differences in mean diffuse reflectance spectral ratio (R540/R575) for mucosa/submucosa tissues between normal bladder and superficial bladder cancer after 2, 3, 4 and 5 h after surgical excision respectively (p < 0.05). Differences in mean diffuse reflectance spectral ratio (R540/R575) for mucosa/ submucosa tissues between normal bladder and superficial bladder cancer were 12.6%, 11.5%, 10.9% and 10.4% after 2, 3, 4 and 5 h after surgical excision respectively. It is obvious that pathological changes in bladder mucosa/submucosa tissues induced changes in the component and structure of the tissues, and especially quantitative changes in oxyhemoglobin and de-oxyhemoglobin of tissues obviously. Conclusion of the study provides a new method that can be applied to rapid, low-cost and noninvasive optical biopsy of superficial bladder cancer.

[Absorption and scattering characteristics of human benign prostatic hyperplasia tissue with Ti: sapphire laser irradiation in vitro].

The optical properties and their differences of human benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) tissues removed using transurethral plasma kinetic resection of the prostate (PKRP) and transurethral vaporization of the prostate (TUVP) at 640, 660, 680, 700, 720, 740, 760, 780, 800, 820, 840, 860 and 880 nm of Ti: Sapphire laser were studied in vitro. The measurements were performed using a double-integrating-sphere setup, and the absorption and scattering properties were assessed using the inverse adding-doubling method. The results of measurement showed that the absorption coefficients and reduced scattering coefficients of BPH tissues removed using PKRP and TURP obviously decreased with the increase in the wavelength for thirteen different laser wavelengths. The absorption coefficient and reduced scattering coefficient of BPH tissues removed using PKRP at a certain laser wavelength were obviously smaller than that of BPH tissues removed using TUVP at the same laser wavelength. The maximum absorption coefficient and maximum reduced scattering coefficient of BPH tissues removed using PKRP and TURP were respectively (0. 885 +/- 0. 022) and (0.955 +/- 0.024)mm(-1), and (1.564 +/- 0.039) and (1.658 +/- 0.042)mm(-1) at 640 nm, their differences were respectively 7.91% and 6.01%, and the minimum absorption coefficient and minimum reduced scattering coefficient of BPH tissues removed using PKRP and TURP were respectively (0.443 +/- 0.011) and (0.455 +/- 0.011) mm(-1), and (1.117 +/- 0.028) and (1.197 +/- 0.030)mm(-1) at 640 nm, their differences were respectively 2.71% and 9.13%. The maximum difference in the absorption coefficients of BPH tissues removed using PKRP and TURP is 8.95% at 660 nm, and the minimum difference is 1.75% at 860 nm. The maximum difference in the reduced scattering coefficients of BPH tissues removed using PKRP and TURP is 9.13% at 800 nm, and the minimum difference is 6.01% at 640 nm.

[Canceration and thermal coagulation of human liver induced changes in the absorption and scattering properties of liver-tissue at near infrared in vitro].

Canceration and thermal coagulation of human liver induced changes in the absorption and scattering properties of liver tissue at 710, 730, 750, 77, 790, 810, 830, 850, 870 and 890 nm of Ti: sapphire laser were studied in vitro. The measurements were performed using a double-integrating-sphere setup, and the absorption and scattering properties were assessed from these measurements using the inverse adding-doubling method. The results of measurement showed that canceration of liver induced significant decrease in the absorption coefficients of liver tissue, and the maximum change in the absorption coefficients is 86.12% at 850 nm, while the minimum change in the absorption coefficients is 82.65% at 750 nm. Thermal coagulation of normal liver induced obvious change in the absorption coefficients from 710 to 890 nm, and the maximum change in the absorption coefficients is 79.55% at 710 nm, while the minimum change in the absorption coefficients 0.72% at 790 nm. Thermal coagulation of carcinoma liver tissue induced significant increase in the absorption coefficients, the maximum change in the absorption coefficients of carcinoma liver tissue is 78.69% at 810 nm, in the minimum change in the absorption coefficients of carcinoma liver tissue 38.16% at 710 nm. Canceration of liver induced significant increase in the scattering coefficients of liver tissue, and the maximum change in the scattering coefficients is 158.37% at 710 nm, while the minimum change in the scattering coefficients is 136.03% at 890 nm. Thermal coagulation of normal liver induced significant increase in the scattering coefficients of liver tissue, and the maximum change in the scattering coefficients is 632.92% at 890 nm, while the minimum change for the scattering coefficients is 587.40% at 710 nm. Thermal coagulation of carcinoma liver tissue induced significant increase in the scattering coefficients, and the maximum change in the scattering coefficients of carcinoma liver tissue is 384. 25% at 810 nm, while the minimum change in the scattering coefficients of carcinoma liver tissue is 330. 86% at 710 nm. The change in the absorption and scattering properties also varies with the change of laser wavelength.

Changes in Nitric Oxide Releases of the Contralateral Acupoint during and after Laser Acupuncture at Bilateral Same-Name Acupoints in Human.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of laser acupuncture (LA) at right Neiguan (RPC6)/left Neiguan (LPC6) acupoints on the releases of nitric oxide (NO) in the treated and contralateral/nontreated PC6, compared to the nonacupoint control area. METHODS: 24 mW LA at RPC6, LPC6, and nonacupoint in 22 healthy subjects for 40 min: sterilized dialysis tube was taped to the nontreated PC6/nonacupoint during the treatment and immediately taped to the treated and nontreated PC6/nonacupoint after LA removal. NO-scavenging compound was injected into the tube for 40 min to absorb the molecular which was tested by spectrophotometry in a blinded fashion. RESULTS: LA-induced NO releases over PC6 acupoints for the nontreated and treated sides all significantly increased after LA removal, but for the nontreated acupoints they did not change during LA stimulation. LA at RPC6 induced the more release of the NO at contralateral side than stimulating LPC6, but not on nonacupoints. The results suggest that LA-induced NO release over contralateral acupoint and NO release resulting from the lateralized specificity all are different and specific to the acupoint within different time course. CONCLUSIONS: LA-evoked NO release over acupoints could improve the neurogenic, endothelial activity of the vessel wall to further facilitate microcirculation.

[Comparison of light attenuation characteristics and optical penetration depths between native and coagulated human liver tissues].

A double-integrating-spheres and IAD method were used to study the differences in the optical penetration depths (OPDs) and light attenuation (LA) native and coagulated human liver tumors and liver tissues at the wavelengths of 680, 720, 780, 810, 850 and 890 nm of Ti: Sapphire laser. The results of measurement showed that the OPDs for native and coagulated human liver tumors and liver tissues at six different wavelengths obviously increase with increasing laser wavelength, the OPDs of coagulated human liver tumors and liver tissues at six different wavelengths were significantly smaller than that of native human liver tumors and liver tissues at the same wavelength respectively (P<0.05), and the OPDs of native and coagulated human liver tumors at six different wavelengths were significantly bigger than that of native and coagulated human liver tissues at the same wavelength respectively (P<0.05). The LA for native and coagulated human liver tumors and liver tissues at six different wavelengths obviously decreases with increasing laser wavelength, and the LA for coagulated human liver tumors and liver tissues at six different wavelengths is significantly bigger than that for native human liver tumors and liver tissues at the same wavelength respectively (P<0.05). The LA for native and coagulated human liver tumors at six different wavelengths is significantly bigger than that for native and coagulated human liver tissue at the same wavelength respectively (P<0.05).

A Correlation Study between Two Adjacent Same-Meridian Acupoints after Laser-Needle Acupuncture with Optical Coherence Tomography and Diffuse Reflectance Spectra.

This study is to investigate the correlations among Sanjian (LI3), Hegu (LI4), and Yangxi (LI5) acupoints and their corresponding nonacupoints on the Yangming Large Intestine Meridian of Hand before and after laser irradiation using optical coherence tomography (OCT) and diffuse reflectance spectra. The experiment was conducted on 10 healthy people. A 658 nm laser with 50 mW output power was used for irradiating LI4, LI5 acupoints and their corresponding nonacupoints. As to LI4 acupoint with laser irradiation for duration of 15 or 45 minutes, the OCT backscattered light intensities of LI4 and LI5 acupoints increased significantly, and the reflectance intensities (RIs) of the LI3, LI4, and LI5 acupoints decreased significantly. As to LI5 acupoint with laser irradiation for duration of 15 or 45 minutes, the changes of OCT backscattered light intensities of the corresponding irradiated acupoint and LI4 acupoint increased significantly, and the RIs decreased significantly. However, the OCT backscattered light intensities and RIs for their nonacupoints were almost not changed. The results show that an association exists between two adjacent same-meridian acupoints on the same meridian after laser-needle acupuncture to some extent.

Differences in optical properties between healthy and pathological human colon tissues using a Ti:sapphire laser: an in vitro study using the Monte Carlo inversion technique.

The purpose of the study is to analyze and compare differences in the optical properties between normal and adenomatous human colon tissues in vitro at 630-, 680-, 720-, 780-, 850-, and 890-nm wavelengths using a Ti:sapphire laser. The optical parameters of tissue samples are determined using a double integrating sphere setup at seven different laser wavelengths. The inverse Monte Carlo simulation is used to determine the optical properties from the measurements. The results of measurement show that the optical properties and their differences vary with a change of laser wavelength for normal and adenomatous colon mucosa/submucosa and normal and adenomatous colon muscle layer/chorion. The maximum absorption coefficients for normal and adenomatous human colon mucosa/submucosa are 680 nm, and the minimum absorption coefficients for both are 890 nm. The maximum difference of the absorption coefficients between both is 56.8% at 780 nm. The maximum scattering coefficients for normal and adenomatous colon mucosa/submucosa are 890 nm, and the minimum scattering coefficients for both are 780 nm. The maximum difference of the scattering coefficients between both is 10.6% at 780 nm. The maximum absorption coefficients for normal and adenomatous colon muscle layer/chorion are 680 nm, and the minimum absorption coefficients for both are 890 nm. The maximum difference of the absorption coefficients between both is 47.9% at 780 nm. The maximum scattering coefficients for normal and adenomatous colon muscle layer/chorion are 890 nm, and the minimum scattering coefficients for both are 680 nm. The maximum difference of the scattering coefficients between both is 9.61% at 850 nm. The differences in absorption coefficients between normal and adenomatous tissues are more significant than those in scattering coefficients.

Determination of optical properties of normal and adenomatous human colon tissues in vitro using integrating sphere techniques.

AIM: The purpose of the present study is to compare the optical properties of normal human colon mucosa/submucosa and muscle layer/chorion, and adenomatous human colon mucosa/submucosa and muscle layer/chorion in vitro at 476.5, 488, 496.5, 514.5 and 532 nm. We believe these differences in optical properties should help differential diagnosis of human colon tissues by using optical methods. METHODS: In vitro optical properties were investigated for four kinds of tissues: normal human colon mucosa/submucosa and muscle layer/chorion, and adenomatous human colon mucosa/submucosa and muscle layer/chorion. Tissue samples were taken from 13 human colons (13 adenomatous, 13 normal). From the normal human colons a total of 26 tissue samples, with a mean thickness of 0.40 mm, were used (13 from mucosa/submucosa and 13 from muscle layer/chorion), and from the adenomatous human bladders a total of 26 tissue samples, with a mean thickness of 0.40 mm, were used (13 from mucosa/submucosa and 13 from muscle layer/chorion). The measurements were performed using a double-integrating-sphere setup and the optical properties were assessed from these measurements using the adding-doubling method that was considered reliable. RESULTS: The results of measurement showed that there were significant differences in the absorption coefficients and scattering coefficients between normal and adenomatous human colon mucosa/submucosa at the same wavelength, and there were also significant differences in the two optical parameters between both colon muscle layer/chorion at the same wavelength. And there were large differences in the anisotropy factors between both colon mucosa/submucosa at the same wavelength, there were also large differences in the anisotropy factors between both colon muscle layer/chorion at the same wavelength. There were large differences in the value ranges of the absorption coefficients, scattering coefficients and anisotropy factors between both colon mucosa/submucosa, and there were also large differences in these value ranges between both colon muscle layer/chorion. There are the same orders of magnitude in the absorption coefficients for four kinds of colon tissues. The scattering coefficients of these tissues exceed the absorption coefficients by at least two orders of magnitude. CONCLUSION: There were large differences in the three optical parameters between normal and adenomatous human colon mucosa/submucosa at the same laser wavelength, and there were also large differences in these parameters between both colon muscle layer/chorion at the same laser wavelength. Large differences in optical parameters indicate that there were large differences in compositions and structures between both colon mucosa/submucosa, and between both colon muscle layer/chorion. Optical parameters for four kinds of colon tissues are wavelength dependent, and these differences would be useful and helpful in clinical applications of laser and tumors photodynamic therapy (PDT).