Partially Automated Method for Localizing Standardized Acupuncture Points on the Heads of Digital Human Models.

Having modernized imaging tools for precise positioning of acupuncture points over the human body where the traditional therapeutic method is applied is essential. For that reason, we suggest a more systematic positioning method that uses X-ray computer tomographic images to precisely position acupoints. Digital Korean human data were obtained to construct three-dimensional head-skin and skull surface models of six individuals. Depending on the method used to pinpoint the positions of the acupoints, every acupoint was classified into one of three types: anatomical points, proportional points, and morphological points. A computational algorithm and procedure were developed for partial automation of the positioning. The anatomical points were selected by using the structural characteristics of the skin surface and skull. The proportional points were calculated from the positions of the anatomical points. The morphological points were also calculated by using some control points related to the connections between the source and the target models. All the acupoints on the heads of the six individual were displayed on three-dimensional computer graphical image models. This method may be helpful for developing more accurate experimental designs and for providing more quantitative volumetric methods for performing analyses in acupuncture-related research.

Positioning Standardized Acupuncture Points on the Whole Body Based on X-Ray Computed Tomography Images.

Objective: The goal of this research was to position all the standardized 361 acupuncture points on the entire human body based on a 3-dimensional (3D) virtual body. Materials and Methods: Digital data from a healthy Korean male with a normal body shape were obtained in the form of cross-sectional images generated by X-ray computed tomography (CT), and the 3D models for the bones and the skin's surface were created through the image-processing steps. Results: The reference points or the landmarks were positioned based on the standard descriptions of the acupoints, and the formulae for the proportionalities between the acupoints and the reference points were presented. About 37% of the 361 standardized acupoints were automatically linked with the reference points, the reference points accounted for 11% of the 361 acupoints, and the remaining acupoints (52%) were positioned point-by-point by using the OpenGL 3D graphics libraries. Based on the projective 2D descriptions of the standard acupuncture points, the volumetric 3D acupoint model was developed; it was extracted from the X-ray CT images. Conclusions: This modality for positioning acupoints may modernize acupuncture research and enable acupuncture treatments to be more personalized.

Evidence for the Primo Vascular System above the Epicardia of Rat Hearts.

We for the first time reported evidence for the existence of a novel network, a PVS, abovethe epicardium of the rat heart. (1) We were consecutively able to visualize the PVs and the PNs above the epicardial spaces of five rats' hearts by using Cr-Hx spraying or injection. (2) Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and toluidine blue staining of the PVs and the PNs showed that they consisted of a basophilic matrix; specifically the PNs contained several mast cells, some of which were degranulating into pericardial space. Also, 4', 6-diamidino-2 phenylindole (DAPI) images of the PVs and the PNs showed that they contained various kinds of cells. (3) Transmission electron microscopic (TEM) longitudinal image of the PVs showed that the sinuses contained many granules with high-electron-density cores in parallel with putative endothelial cells. (4) TEM images of the PNs demonstrated that they consisted of lumen-containing cells surrounded by fibers and that they had mast cells that were degranulating toward the epicardium of the rat heart. The above data suggest that mast-cells-containing novel network exists above the epicardium of the rat heart.

Korean Pharmacopuncture Meets Austrian High- Tech Acupuncture - A Short Review Article Including a Bibliometric Analysis of Pharmacopuncture over the Last 15 Years - Pharmacopuncture and Europe.

OBJECTIVE: Pharmacopuncture, a new therapy in traditional medicine, has attracted significant attention since its introduction to the Western world. This short review article employs a database analysis to examine the profile of publication activity related to pharmacopuncture. METHODS: Three databases were searched: PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane. About 300 papers related to the topic "pharmacopuncture" were found in these three most-commonly-used databases. RESULTS: Fourteen papers are described in detail and are discussed in the context of the research performed at the Medical University of Graz, especially by the Frank Bahr Research Group "Auriculomedicine and Pharmacopuncture." CONCLUSION: High-tech research methods concerning future pharmacopuncture studies are briefly discussed.

Growth of microgranules into cell-like structures in fertilized chicken eggs: hypothesis for a mitosis-free alternative pathway.

According to Bonghan Kim's theory of anatomical reality for acupuncture meridians, DNA microgranules known as Sanals are key functional components in the primo vascular system (formerly the Bonghan system). To investigate this issue, we developed a new system, an incubator bound to a phase-contrast microscope, in which we cultivated and then observed for 10 hours microgranules taken from 3-day-old chick embryos and from blastoderms of fertilized chicken eggs. With this system, we found that, over time, the microgranules grew in circular patterns to become cell-like structures. In the embryo specimens, we found two distinctive microgranule growths, which developed into cell-like structures over 10 hours. In the first case, a microgranule of about 1.0 µm in size developed into a 3.3-µm-sized cell-like structure, with a pattern of concentric circles. The growth rate of the diameter of the first microgranule was, on average, 0.23 µm/hour. In the second case, a 2.5-µm-sized microgranule developed into a 5.4-µm-sized cell-like structure, which also exhibited a pattern of concentric circles. The average growth rate of the diameter of the second microgranule was 0.31 µm/hour. In the blastoderm specimens from the fertilized chicken egg, we also found three distinctive concentric growths. Interestingly, one of the three blastoderm microgranules grew very quickly, from about 2.5 µm in size to about 5.5 µm in size during 5 minutes of incubation. This was followed by steady growth to about 7.0 µm in size during the next 10 hours of incubation. In the final step of our investigation, we confirmed that the cell-like structures that had grown from the microgranules stained by acridine orange had DNA signals. We believe that the data obtained with our experimental method provide a clue that a mitosis-free alternative pathway for cell formation may, indeed, exist. We also suggest that this new function of microgranules (Sanals) might be related with the acupuncture meridian called the primo vascular system.

Analysis on postmortem tissues at acupuncture points in the image datasets of Visible Human Project.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study is to search for distinct features in the color of human tissues under acupuncture points. METHODS: The data for computerized tomography and anatomical images of human males were downloaded with permission from the Visible Human Project initiated by the National Library of Medicine. The colors of digitalized anatomical cryosection images were represented by red-green-blue (RGB) values at every point of the body with 1-mm spatial precision. The computerized tomography data were used for positioning the acupuncture points in the three-dimensional frame by following the proportional method and the skeleton metric method. The anterior and posterior aspects of the trunk, which included the abdomen and the lower part of the thorax, were the regions of interest. RESULTS: The acupuncture points under consideration were aligned on the conception vessel, the kidney meridian, the stomach meridian for the front of the trunk, and the governor vessel and the bladder meridians for the back of the trunk. A total of 83 acupuncture points were located on the skin surface of the body in three-dimensional space. We obtained RGB color variations with depth under the skin of the body at fixed acupuncture points and analyzed them by the types of meridians. Color localization at the acupuncture points and directional patterns along the meridians were found at specific depths under the skin. CONCLUSIONS: This study is shown to be a unique method for understanding the anatomy of acupuncture points and meridians in three-dimension space, and it is suggested that color may be a useful characteristic when searching for a physical basis of the system.

Comparative Analysis of the Bufonis Venenum by Using TLC, HPLC, and LC-MS for Different Extraction Methods.

OBJECTIVES: Toad venom, called Chan-Su, is a traditional Oriental medicine secreted from the auricular and the skin glands of the Bufo bufo gargarizanz Cantor or B. melanosticus Schneider and has been widely used in China, Korea and other parts of Asia for the treatment of pain, heart conditions, and cancer. We examined the concentrations of the main chemical constituents within a commerciallyavailable toad venom product and compared the levels for different extraction methods. METHODS: Toad venom was extracted using either cold or hot water, ethanol (EtOH), methanol (MeOH), or ethyl acetate (EtOAc), was fractionated using precipitation or reflux, and was then analyzed using thin layer chromatography (TLC), high-performance liquid chromatography (HTLC), and liquid chroma-tography - mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Individual components were identified by comparisons of the retention times, the ultraviolet spectra, and mass spectras and differences in chemical constituents for different solvents and extraction methods are presented. RESULTS: Components with authentic standards, including serotonin and bufodienolides (cinobufagen, bufalin, cinobufalin, and resibufogenin), were detected. The water extract of toad venom contained the greatest amount of serotonin (75.7 ± 0.1 mg/g), but very small amounts of bufodienolides (3.8 ± 0.0 mg/g). In contrast, the use of MeOH or EtOH extraction solutions resulted in 5-26 times higher concentrations of bufodienolides, with only trace amounts of serotonin. The relative and the absolute concentrations of the component also varied based on the extraction method; i.e., EtOH extracts yielded the greatest total amounts of bufodienolides, and EtOAc precipitation had the lowest amounts of bufodienolides. CONCLUSIONS: Toad venom consists of serotonin and several bufodienolides, and the choice of solvent to extract chemical the constituents is important as a way to enrich the purported active components for treating different conditions.

A descriptive statistical approach to the Korean pharmacopuncture therapy.

This paper reviews trends in research related to Korean pharmacopuncture therapy. Specifically, basic and clinical research in pharmacopuncture within the last decade is summarized by introducing categorical variables for classification. These variables are also analyzed for association. This literature review is based on articles published from February 1997 to December 2008 in a Korean journal, the Journal of the Korean Institute of Herbal Acupuncture, which was renamed the Journal of the Korean Pharmacopuncture Institute in 2007. Among the total of 379 papers published in the journal during this period, 164 papers were selected for their direct relevance to pharmacopuncture research and were categorized according to three variables: medicinal materials, acupuncture points and disease. The most frequently studied medicinal materials were bee-venom pharmacopuncture (42%), followed by meridian-field pharmacopuncture (24%), single-compound pharmacopuncture (24%), and eight-principle pharmacopuncture (10%). The frequency distributions of the acupuncture points and meridians for the injection of medicinal materials are presented. The most frequently used meridian and acupuncture point was the Bladder meridian and ST36, respectively. Contingency tables are also displayed to analyze the relationship between the categorized variables. Chi-squared analysis showed a significant association between the type of pharmacopuncture and disease. The trend in research reports on Korean pharmacopuncture therapy was reviewed and analyzed using a descriptive statistical approach to evaluate the therapeutic value of this technique for future research.

Immunohistochemical and electron microscopic study of the meridian-like system on the surface of internal organs of rats.

Threadlike structures on the surfaces of mammalian internal organs were recently observed, and they can be the anatomical basis of the meridian-like network of internal organs as detected by the Bi-Digital O-Ring test imaging method. Morphological and histological studies were performed to reveal their novel features by using confocal and electron microscopy, and there is evidence that reveals that they have a ductal structure in which some liquid flows. They form a part of the network of acupuncture meridians that is thought to be a circulatory system distributed throughout an animal body. In order to confirm further the circulatory function it was necessary to provide evidences for the existence of endothelial cells at the inner boundaries of the microchannels that form the threadlike ducts. In this work we performed immunohistochemical studies for the identification of endothelial cells. In addition, we identified the extracellular matrices between the microchannels in the threadlike structure by using antifibronectin, elastin, laminin, and collagen type IV. Since immunohistochemical data are not sufficient for definite proof we supplemented the analysis with ultra structural information by using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Yet TEM images show only ultrathin sections (50 nm) of a specimen, we needed to take 3-dimentional images to provide a visual demonstration of the microchannels in the threadlike ducts. We conducted high voltage electron microscopic studies for this purpose and obtained corroborating tomograms that exhibit the microchannels. In conclusion, the meridian-like tissues are ducts with microchannels, which implies the circulatory function of the acupuncture meridian network.