[Feasibility study of arterial pressure measurement by snuff pot artery puncture].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the feasibility of snuff pot arterial pressure measurement for patients undergoing routine elective surgery during anesthesia. METHODS: A prospective randomized controlled trial was conducted. Patients undergoing elective surgery admitted to the Handan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine from June 1, 2020 to June 1, 2022 were enrolled. Patients who needed arterial pressure measurement for hemodynamic monitoring were randomly divided into routine radial artery puncture group and snuff pot artery puncture group with their informed consent. The patients in the routine radial artery puncture group were placed a catheter at the styloid process of the patient's radius to measure pressure. In the snuff pot artery puncture group, the snuff pot artery, that was, the radial fossa on the back of the hand (snuff box), was selected to conduct the snuff pot artery puncture and tube placement for pressure measurement. The indwelling time of arterial puncture catheter, arterial blood pressure, and complications of puncture catheterization of patients in the two groups were observed. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used to screen the relevant factors that affect the outcome of arterial catheterization. RESULTS: Finally, a total of 252 patients were enrolled, of which 130 patients received routine radial artery puncture and 122 patients received snuff pot artery puncture. There was no statistically significant difference in general information such as gender, age, body mass index (BMI), and surgical type of patients between the two groups. There was no significant difference in the indwelling time of artery puncture catheter between the routine radial artery puncture group and the snuff pot artery puncture group (minutes: 3.4±0.3 vs. 3.6±0.3, P > 0.05). The systolic blood pressure (SBP) and the diastolic blood pressure (DBP) measured in the snuff pot artery puncture group were significantly higher than those in the conventional radial artery puncture group [SBP (mmHg, 1 mmHg ≈ 0.133 kPa): 162.3±14.3 vs. 156.6±12.5, DBP (mmHg): 85.3±12.6 vs. 82.9±11.3, both P < 0.05]. There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of complications such as arterial spasm, arterial occlusion, and pseudoaneurysm formation between the two groups. However, the incidence of hematoma formation in the snuff pot artery puncture group was significantly lower than that in the conventional radial artery puncture group (2.5% vs. 4.6%, P < 0.05). Based on the difficulty of arterial puncture, multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that gender [odds ratio (OR) = 0.643, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) was 0.525-0.967], age (OR = 2.481, 95%CI was 1.442-4.268) and BMI (OR = 0.786, 95%CI was 0.570-0.825) were related factors that affect the outcome of arterial catheterization during anesthesia in patients undergoing elective surgery (all P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Catheterization through the snuff pot artery can be a new and feasible alternative to conventional arterial pressure measurement.

Disclosure of suboptimal health status through traditional Chinese medicine-based body constitution and pulse patterns.

OBJECTIVES: Suboptimal health status (SHS) is a dynamic state wherein people have not been diagnosed with a disease but tend to develop diseases. People with SHS often experience fatigue and other nonspecific symptoms, which are related to a deviated body constitution in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). However, the correlation between TCM constitution and SHS has not been adequately investigated. Furthermore, no study has explored the radial pulse analysis-an assistive objective indicator of TCM constitution-in healthy people and people with SHS. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. SETTINGS/LOCATION: Center for Traditional Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan. SUBJECTS: Sixty-six adults (27 healthy participants and 39 participants with SHS) who were aged 20-39 years. OUTCOME MEASURES: The body constitution questionnaire (BCQ) scores, suboptimal health status questionnaire-25 (SHSQ-25) scores, and radial pulse waves detected using sphygmography were recorded. Pulse wave analyses are presented as the ratio of frequency below 10 Hz to that above 10 Hz (SER10), which represent energy changes in organ blood flow. RESULTS: Participants with SHS had significantly higher Yang-Xu, Yin-Xu, and stasis scores of BCQ compared with healthy participants. The SHSQ-25 scores of the participants with SHS were moderately correlated with their Yang-Xu, Yin-Xu, and stasis scores (r = 0.65, 0.66, and 0.72, respectively; all p < 0.001), but weak correlations were discovered for healthy participants. The participants with SHS had significantly higher SER10 at the left guan (the "liver" system in TCM) than did the healthy participants. CONCLUSIONS: SHS is moderately correlated with TCM-based constitution and those with SHS had increased SER10 at the leftguan of the radial pulse.

Palmar Warming for Radial Artery Vasodilation to Facilitate Transradial Access: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

PURPOSE: To investigate the efficacy of palmar warming to induce radial artery vasodilation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: After informed consent was obtained, healthy volunteers (n = 45) were randomized 2:1 in palmar warming and control groups, respectively, for this prospective, randomized, single-blind clinical trial (NCT03620383). The palmar warming group was given a warm, commercially available, air-activated heat pack (Kobayashi Consumer Products LLC, Dalton, Georgia) to hold in the left hand for palmar warming. The control group was given a deactivated version of the same heat pack. Left radial artery cross-sectional area (CSA) measurements were obtained at baseline and in 5-minute intervals up to 20 minutes in both groups. Differences in the trends of changes in the radial artery CSA between palmar warming and control groups were examined with the age- and sex-adjusted repeated measure analysis of variance. Propensity score-matched treatment effect analysis was conducted to quantify the effect of heat on radial artery CSA. RESULTS: The palmar warming group and the control group were significantly different in terms of subject sex (males/females: 7/23 and 10/5, respectively; P = .005) and baseline CSA (2.5±0.2 mm2 vs 3.2±0.3 mm2, respectively; P = .014). Radial artery CSA showed an increasing trend over time in the palmar warming group compared to a stable trend over time in the control group (P < .0001). Propensity score-matched comparison showed a 43.9% increase (95% confidence interval: 34.1%-53.8%) in CSA in the palmar warming group compared to the control group (P < .0001). CONCLUSIONS: The palmar warming technique is effective at dilating the radial artery and may be a beneficial technique to facilitate transradial access.

Effect of Black Tea and Green Tea on the Radial Pulse Spectrum in Healthy Humans.

The consumption of black tea and green tea has been shown to be beneficial for cardiovascular health. Because the chemical composition of the two teas varies widely, the purpose of the study was to investigate whether the consumption of green tea and black tea had different effects on the arterial system. Thirty-three healthy subjects received a single dose of green tea (dose = 0.05 g/kg) and black tea (dose = 0.05 g/kg) in different weeks. Radial blood pressure and radial pulse pressure were measured before and after drinking tea. The harmonic analysis was performed on radial pressure waves, and harmonics (Cns) were recorded. The results showed that both black tea and green tea consumption significantly increased the C1, C2, C6, C7, C8, C9, and C10 of the radial pressure wave. Furthermore, the results confirmed that the consumption effect of green tea on C6-C10 increase is greater than that of black tea. This report also found a subtle difference that consumption of green tea increased C4, whereas consumption of black tea increased C3. We concluded that black tea and green tea have similar patterns in higher harmonics, but with varying degrees.

Radial artery pulse waveform analysis based on curve fitting using discrete Fourier series.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Radial artery pulse diagnosis has been playing an important role in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). For its non-invasion and convenience, the pulse diagnosis has great significance in diseases analysis of modern medicine. The practitioners sense the pulse waveforms in patients' wrist to make diagnoses based on their non-objective personal experience. With the researches of pulse acquisition platforms and computerized analysis methods, the objective study on pulse diagnosis can help the TCM to keep up with the development of modern medicine. METHODS: In this paper, we propose a new method to extract feature from pulse waveform based on discrete Fourier series (DFS). It regards the waveform as one kind of signal that consists of a series of sub-components represented by sine and cosine (SC) signals with different frequencies and amplitudes. After the pulse signals are collected and preprocessed, we fit the average waveform for each sample using discrete Fourier series by least squares. The feature vector is comprised by the coefficients of discrete Fourier series function. RESULTS: Compared with the fitting method using Gaussian mixture function, the fitting errors of proposed method are smaller, which indicate that our method can represent the original signal better. The classification performance of proposed feature is superior to the other features extracted from waveform, liking auto-regression model and Gaussian mixture model. CONCLUSIONS: The coefficients of optimized DFS function, who is used to fit the arterial pressure waveforms, can obtain better performance in modeling the waveforms and holds more potential information for distinguishing different psychological states.

Detection of multipoint pulse waves and dynamic 3D pulse shape of the radial artery based on binocular vision theory.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Pulse signals contain a wealth of human physiological and pathological information. How to get full pulse information is especially challenging, and most of the traditional pulse sensors can only get the pulse wave of a single point. This study is aimed at developing a binocular pulse detection system and method to obtain multipoint pulse waves and dynamic three-dimensional pulse shape of the radial artery. METHODS: The proposed pulse detection approach is image-based and implemented by two steps. First, a new binocular pulse detection system is developed based on the principle of pulse feeling used in traditional Chinese medicine. Second, pulse detection is achieved based on theories and methods of binocular vision and digital image processing. In detail, the sequences of pulse images collected by the designed system as experimental data are sequentially processed by median filtering, block binarization and inversion, area filtering, centroids extraction of connected regions, to extract the pattern centroids as feature points. Then stereo matching is realized by a proposed algorithm based on Gong-shape scan detection. After multipoint spatial coordinate calculation, dynamic three-dimensional reconstruction of the thin film shape is completed by linear interpolation. And then the three-dimensional pulse shape is achieved by finding an appropriate reference time. Meanwhile, extraction of multipoint pulse waves of the radial artery is accomplished by using a suitable reference origin. The proposed method is analyzed from three aspects, which are pulse amplitude, pulse rate and pulse shape, and compared with other detection methods. RESULTS: Analysis of the results shows that the values of pulse amplitude and pulse rate are consistent with the characteristics of pulse wave of the radial artery, and pulse shape can correctly present the shape of pulse in space and its change trend in time. The comparison results with the other two previously proposed methods further verify the correctness of the presented method. CONCLUSIONS: The designed binocular pulse detection system and proposed algorithm can effectively detect pulse information. This tactile visualization-based pulse detection method has important scientific significance and broad application prospects and will promote further development of objective pulse diagnosis.

[A Testing Device for Pulse Graph Force Transducer Measured over Radial Artery].

Pulse graph force transducer measured over radial artery is a common and key technology of pulse diagnosis in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). In order to solve the problem to conduct the technical test of transducer with the publication of international standard(ISO 19614), a test device has been developed based on principles and characteristics of pulse acquisition in TCM and international standard requirement. The device is a synthetic device designed to test both dynamic and static force to reduce the cost and complexity. The results meet the relevant requirements of international standards through verification.

Design and application of pulse information acquisition and analysis system with dynamic recognition in traditional Chinese medicine.

BACKGROUND: To design the pulse information which includes the parameter of pulse-position, pulse-number, pulse-shape and pulse-force acquisition and analysis system with function of dynamic recognition, and research the digitalization and visualization of some common cardiovascular mechanism of single pulse. METHODS: To use some flexible sensors to catch the radial artery pressure pulse wave and utilize the high frequency B mode ultrasound scanning technology to synchronously obtain the information of radial extension and axial movement, by the way of dynamic images, then the gathered information was analyzed and processed together with ECG. Finally, the pulse information acquisition and analysis system was established which has the features of visualization and dynamic recognition, and it was applied to serve for ten healthy adults. RESULTS: The new system overcome the disadvantage of one-dimensional pulse information acquisition and process method which was common used in current research area of pulse diagnosis in traditional Chinese Medicine, initiated a new way of pulse diagnosis which has the new features of dynamic recognition, two-dimensional information acquisition, multiplex signals combination and deep data mining. CONCLUSIONS: The newly developed system could translate the pulse signals into digital, visual and measurable motion information of vessel.

Regression analysis of radial artery pulse palpation as a potential tool for traditional Chinese medicine training education.

Pulse palpation was an important part of the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) vascular examination. It is challenging for new physicians to learn to differentiate between palpations of various pulse types, due to limited comparative learning time with established masters, and so normally it takes many years to master the art. The purpose of this study was to introduce an offline TCM skill evaluation and comparison system that makes available learning of palpation without the master's presence. We record patient's radial artery pulse using an existing pressure-based pulse acquisition system, then annotate it with teachers' evaluation when palpating the same patient, assigned as likelihood of it being each pulse type, e.g. wiry, slippery, hesitant. These training data were separated into per-doctor and per-skill databases for evaluation and comparison purposes, using the following novel procedure: each database was used as training data to a panel of time-series data-mining algorithms, driven by two validation tests, with the created training models evaluated in mean-squared-error. Each validation of the panel and training data yielded an array of error terms, and we chose one to quantitatively evaluate palpation techniques, giving way to compute self consistency and mutual-similarity across different practitioners and techniques. Our experiment of two practitioners and 396 per-processing samples yielded the following: one of the physicians has much higher value of self-consistency for all tested pulse types. Also, the two physicians have high similarity in how they palpate the slipper pulse (P) type, but very dissimilar for hesitant (H) type. This system of skill comparisons may be more broadly applied in places where supervised learning algorithms can detect and use meaningful features in the data; we chose a panel of algorithms previously shown to be effective for many time-series types, but specialized algorithms may be added to improve feature-specific aspect of evaluation.

Validation of noninvasive MOEMS-assisted measurement system based on CCD sensor for radial pulse analysis.

Examination of wrist radial pulse is a noninvasive diagnostic method, which occupies a very important position in Traditional Chinese Medicine. It is based on manual palpation and therefore relies largely on the practitioner's subjective technical skills and judgment. Consequently, it lacks reliability and consistency, which limits practical applications in clinical medicine. Thus, quantifiable characterization of the wrist pulse diagnosis method is a prerequisite for its further development and widespread use. This paper reports application of a noninvasive CCD sensor-based hybrid measurement system for radial pulse signal analysis. First, artery wall deformations caused by the blood flow are calibrated with a laser triangulation displacement sensor, following by the measurement of the deformations with projection moiré method. Different input pressures and fluids of various viscosities are used in the assembled artificial blood flow system in order to test the performance of laser triangulation technique with detection sensitivity enhancement through microfabricated retroreflective optical element placed on a synthetic vascular graft. Subsequently, the applicability of double-exposure whole-field projection moiré technique for registration of blood flow pulses is considered: a computational model and representative example are provided, followed by in vitro experiment performed on a vascular graft with artificial skin atop, which validates the suitability of the technique for characterization of skin surface deformations caused by the radial pulsation.

Pulse waveform analysis as a bridge between pulse examination in Chinese medicine and cardiology.

Pulse examination was probably the earliest attempt to distinguish between health and illnesses. Starting at the pre-Hippocratic era, Chinese medicine practitioners developed techniques for pulse examination and defined pulse images based on their perceptions of pulse waveforms at the radial artery. Pulse images were described using basic variables (frequency, rhythm, wideness, length, deepness, and qualities) developed under philosophical trends such as Taoism and Confucianism. Recent advances in biomedical instrumentation applied to cardiology opened possibilities to research on pulse examination based on ancient Chinese medical theories: the pulse wave analysis. Although strongly influenced by philosophy, some characteristics used to describe a pulse image are interpretable as parameters obtained by pulse waveform analysis such as pulse wave velocity and augmentation index. Those clinical parameters reflect concepts unique to Chinese medicine - such as yinyang - while are based on wave reflection and resonance theories of fluids mechanics. Major limitations for integration of Chinese and Western pulse examination are related to quantitative description of pulse images and pattern differentiation based on pulse examination. Recent evidence suggests that wave reflection and resonance phenomena may bridge Chinese medicine and cardiology to provide a more evidence-based medical practice.

Effects of acupuncture on the harmonic components of the radial arterial blood-pressure waveform in stroke patients.

MOTIVATION: Stroke induces abnormal microcirculatory blood flow perfusion resistance in cerebral vascular beds, which may in turn alter the arterial pulse transmission. This study aimed to determine if the frequency-domain harmonic index for the blood-pressure waveform is useful in monitoring the microcirculatory blood flow perfusion response in cerebral vascular beds of stroke patients following acupuncture stimulation. METHODS: Bilateral radial arterial blood-pressure waveform and laser-Doppler flowmetry signals were obtained noninvasively before and after acupuncture in 17 stroke patients. The amplitude proportion (Cn) for all the acquired pulses and the coefficient of variance (CVn) for harmonics 1-10 were calculated to evaluate the blood-pressure harmonic variability. RESULTS: The laser-Doppler flowmetry parameters showed that the cerebral microvascular blood flow supply could be improved following acupuncture. For the blood pressure waveform harmonic index, there were significant increases in C5 and C6 and decreases in CV5 and CV7 on the stroke-affected side, but no significant changes on the contralateral side. CONCLUSION: Cn values might reflect changes in arterial pulse transmission, and the blood-pressure-harmonic-variability response might be partly attributable to cardiovascular regulatory activities caused by acupuncture-induced changes in the cerebral microvascular blood flow perfusion. The present findings of blood pressure waveform harmonic analysis may be useful to the development of a noninvasive and real-time technique for evaluating treatment efficacy in stroke patients.

Effects of Tai Chi training on arterial compliance and muscle strength in female seniors: a randomized clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: Exercise which can improve muscle strength while not compromising arterial compliance is especially needed for older adults. Tai Chi practitioners are known to have better than average arterial compliance and muscle strength. This study was designed to establish a cause and effect relationship between Tai Chi training and both increased arterial compliance and increased muscle strength. DESIGN: In a single blind randomized clinical trial, 31 elderly women were randomly assigned to receive either Tai Chi training or an education programme, three sessions per week for 16 weeks. RESULTS: After training, the subjects in the Tai Chi group showed significant improvements in arterial compliance and eccentric knee extensor strength. The subjects in the control group showed no significant improvement. CONCLUSION: Practising Tai Chi can improve the eccentric knee extensor strength and arterial compliance of elderly women. Tai Chi maybe a good exercise choice to improve the cardiovascular health and muscle strength of the elderly.

Acupuncture effects on the pulse spectrum of radial pressure pulse in dyspepsia.

This study is to investigate the influences of acupuncture for dyspepsia on the Radial Pressure Pulse (RPP) between the Chun, Guan and Chy positions of the right/left wrist. Two series of experiments were designed; for the first series, 30 patients with dyspepsia (Group P) and 30 normal subjects (Group N) were seated to undergo the measurements of pulse pressure waveforms from radial artery by sphygmograph. The parameters of RPP included the spectral energy of 0-10 Hz (SE(0-10 Hz)), 10-50 Hz (SE(10-50 Hz)) and 13-50 Hz (SE(13-50 Hz)). For the second series, acupuncture was administered at the right and left Tsu San Li (St-36) points for the same 30 dyspepsia patients, and then their pulse pressure waveforms were re-examined. The results showed that the SE(0-10 Hz) at Right Guan (RB) (p < 0.05), the SE(10-50 Hz) at RB (p < 0.01), and the SE(13-50 Hz) at RB (p < 0.01) and Left Guan (LB) (p < 0.05) of Group P were significantly greater than that of Group N. After the acupuncture, there were significant decreases in the SE(0-10 Hz) only at RB (p < 0.01), in the SE(10-50 Hz) at RB (p < 0.01), Right Chy (RC) (p < 0.05) and LB (p < 0.05), and in the SE(13-50 Hz) RB (p < 0.01), RC (p < 0.05) and LB (p < 0.01). We concluded that the pulse-frequency spectrum at RB was a more effective characteristic for dyspepsia patients, and the acupuncture had an effect on SE(10-50 Hz) and SE(13-50 Hz) more obviously than that on SE(0-10 Hz).

Pulse analysis in bipolar disordered and nonpsychotic human subjects.

The research literature indicates that patients with bipolar disorder (BPD) differ from healthy individuals in various ways that are also recognized in traditional Chinese medicine. The purpose of the current study was to analyze the pulse spectra in BPD patients to determine any differences from nonpsychotic healthy individuals. Sphygmography was used to measure the radial arterial pulse waves in all subjects. We analyzed the original waveforms and then transformed them into frequency spectra via Fourier transformation. The relative strength of each harmonic, believed to be connected to meridians in Chinese medicine, was identified from the frequency, and we compared the differences among the harmonics. A total of sixty individuals, thirty with BPD and thirty nonpsychotic healthy controls, participated in the study. The harmonic values of C4 (Lung Meridian) on the right hand, 401.33 ± 50.10 vs. 762.44 ± 125.17, were significantly different (p < 0.05) between the BPD group and the nonpsychotic healthy group. The harmonic percentage of C3 (Spleen Meridian) on the right hand, 7.85 ± 0.59% vs. 10.79 ± 1.01%, and C4 (Lung Meridian), 1.80 ± 0.15 vs. 3.24 ± 0.43, was significantly different (p < 0.05) between the two groups. The results were similar for the right and left hands. In this study, we objectively detected constitutional differences between BPD patients and healthy controls through arterial pulse analysis. The pulse spectrum analyzer is a non-invasive diagnostic tool that can be used to integrate scientific technology with traditional Chinese medicine. We plan further study in this field to improve the accuracy of diagnosis in Chinese medicine.

Reduction of arterial graft smooth muscle mass by moderate heat therapy.

Radial artery (RA) graft spasm is a major cause of early graft failure in coronary artery bypass grafting surgeries. We explored the feasibility of thermal reduction of smooth muscle mass to attenuate vasoconstriction. Rat and rabbit femoral arteries were treated thermally in situ (45°C to 65°C; 0 s to 120 s) and then excised at various time points for histological and physiological study (pressure-diameter relationships). Human radial arteries were treated in vitro and studied in similar fashion. Weeks after thermal treatment, no overt indication was noted of vasospasm, thrombosis, or scarring in the arterial wall; however, this intervention led to a thermal dose-dependent reduction of vasoconstriction (to phenylephrine or potassium chloride) and to a conspicuous loss of smooth muscle. Pressure-diameter relationships showed no aneurismal dilation of these demuscularized arteries up to 200 mmHg. Qualitatively identical results were obtained in human radial arteries. Thermal ablation of RAs may provide a simple, safe, and effective solution to postsurgical vasospasm.

Brief effect of acupuncture on the peripheral arterial system of the upper limb and systemic hemodynamics in humans.

BACKGROUND: Pulse diagnosis of the peripheral artery is an important technique in Traditional Chinese Medicine, where, in acupuncture therapy, the treatment is adjusted according to the observed changes of the pulse. We investigated the change of blood flow in the peripheral artery and the cardiac index during acupuncture treatment. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to explore the effect of acupuncture on radial and brachial artery blood flow volume and the cardiac index in healthy subjects. METHODS: Eighteen (18) healthy volunteers were enrolled. Acupuncture was performed bilaterally on LR-3 with manual rotation of the needles. The blood pressure and heart rate were measured at rest and 180 seconds after acupuncture. Radial and brachial artery blood flow volume was monitored continuously by an ultrasound with an echo-tracking system. Cardiac index was measured by impedance cardiography. The hemodynamic parameters were measured before, during, and 30, 60, 180 seconds after acupuncture. RESULTS: The peripheral artery blood flow volume decreased significantly during acupuncture (radial; p < 0.01, brachial; p < 0.05) but increased at 180 seconds after acupuncture (radial; p < 0.05, brachial; p < 0.05) compared with before acupuncture. The cardiac index did not change significantly after acupuncture, but systemic vascular resistance index significantly decreased (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The present study showed that radial and brachial artery blood flow volume decreased immediately during acupuncture on LR-3 acupoint, but increased at 180 seconds after acupuncture. This reaction is attributed to the change in peripheral vascular resistance.

Radial artery hemodynamic changes related to acupuncture.

BACKGROUND: Assessment of the radial pulse by palpation (pulse diagnosis) is an important diagnostic technique in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), but the changes of blood flow volume in the radial artery during and after acupuncture are unknown. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explore the changes of radial artery blood flow volume during and after acupuncture in healthy subjects. DESIGN: This study was conducted as a pilot study utilizing a one-group intervention design. SETTING: The study was conducted at a TCM outpatient clinic of Tohoku University Hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-six healthy volunteers participated in the study. INTERVENTION: Acupuncture was performed at LR-3 bilaterally with manual rotation of the needles. OUTCOME MEASURES: Blood pressure was measured at rest and 180 seconds after acupuncture. Radial artery hemodynamics were monitored continuously with a high-resolution ultrasound echo-tracking system. The vessel diameter and blood flow volume of the right radial artery and heart rate were measured at rest, before acupuncture, during acupuncture, and 30, 60, and 180 seconds after acupuncture. RESULTS: The systolic and diastolic diameter of the radial artery did not significantly change. Radial artery blood flow volume decreased significantly during acupuncture (mean +/- SD, 0.16 +/- 0.11 mL/sec per m(2); P < .01) compared with baseline (0.43 +/- 0.27 mL/sec per m(2)), but was increased at 180 seconds after acupuncture (0.54 +/- 0.28 mL/sec per m(2); P < .01). CONCLUSIONS: The present study showed that radial artery blood flow volume decreased immediately during acupuncture at the LR-3 acupoint, but was increased at 180 seconds after acupuncture.

Short term effects by acupuncture to SP3 on the autonomic blood flow control.

OBJECTIVES: In this study, we investigated the short term effects of acupuncture on autonomic control of blood flow in healthy subjects. We also studied whether deqi (obtaining qi) sensations are correlated with these autonomic hemodynamic changes. METHODS: The experiment had a randomized, crossover design. Five healthy volunteers (age: 18-26 years) participated in this study. Acupuncture (2 Hz rotations for 10 seconds to 20 mm deep) was applied either to the acupuncture point SP3 or KI2 for 5 minutes. Non-invasively obtained continuous hemodynamic measurements of ultrasound Dopplerography were recorded at the radial artery before, during and after acupuncture stimulation. Cardiovascular autonomic tone was also recorded using power spectral analysis of heart rate variability. After acupuncture stimulation, the participants completed the acupuncture perception scales to measure the degree of deqi or pain they had experienced. RESULTS: Acupuncture stimulation to the acupuncture point SP3, when compared to the acupuncture point KI2, decreased the maximum systolic velocity. It also decreased low frequency component and increased high frequency component of heart rate variability, indicating that the decrease in systolic blood flow velocity was due to the increased parasympathetic response. Interestingly, warm, radiating and energetic feeling, which are related to deqi, had close correlations with the decrease in blood flow velocity. DISCUSSION: Acupuncture stimulation to the acupuncture point SP3 modulates the autonomic cardiovascular responses by enhancing parasympathetic function, and this may help to understand the therapeutic effects of acupuncture.

[Pulse wave: the bridge connecting traditional Chinese medicine with Western medicine].

Pulse wave, a research focus in both traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine, which contains a wealth of human physiological and pathological information, has always been the concern of medical practitioners. On the basis of the review on the development of the pulse wave theory and its applications, the existing problems in this field are discussed in this paper. On the basis of the status quo of pulse wave information extraction methods and the utilization of pulse wave in traditional Chinese and Western medicine, a more in-depth study on pulse wave is proposed to make it a bridge connecting traditional Chinese medicine with Western medicine.