Development of a system and improvement of the stimulus pattern to discriminate the acupuncture point and meridians.

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., squarelike waveform with a frequency of 4 kHz) with a single power alternating current (SPAC) stimulus pattern of 1.28 V. The SPAC stimulus pattern has little or no effect on cells and the body's 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.