Pilot Study of Blood Perfusion Changes at PC4 and Its Surrounding Points Induced by Acupuncture and Moxibustion

Figures

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  Figure 1. Study design and blood flux recording points. (a) Stimulation flow diagram: participants rest for 40 min before recording the baseline value for 20 min. After acupuncture or moxibustion for 5 min, blood flux is recorded for 20 min. (b) Recording points of the right forearm: left image is a photograph of the recording site and right image is a blood flow diagram. S is PC4, which receives stimulation. Both point P (proximal side) and point D (distal side) are on the pericardium meridian. Point R is on the radial side of the pericardium meridian, while point U is on the ulnar side. Point S and the other four points are equidistant. (c) Raw blood flux signals of recording points. Pre, prestimulation; post, poststimulation.

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  Figure 2. Mean of blood flux signals at different points. (a) Changes in skin blood flux at PC4 (∗∗, p < 0.01; Acup vs. Moxi, paired t test). (b) Changes in skin blood flux at the proximal point. (c) Changes in skin blood flux at the distal side point. (d) Changes in skin blood flux at the ulnar point. (e) Changes in skin blood flux at the radial point. S, PC4 point stimulated by acupuncture or moxibustion; P, proximal side points; D distal side point; R, radial side point; U, ulnar side point; Acup, acupuncture; and Moxi, moxibustion.

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  Figure 3. Morlet wavelet transformation results. (a) Time frequency results of a single participant. (b) Frequency-domain results. (c) Comparison of acupuncture and moxibustion stimulation. The left side shows the result before stimulation, and the right side shows the result after stimulation (∗∗, p < 0.01; Acup. vs. Moxi, paired t test). All values are reported as mean ± standard error. Freq, frequency; Freq I, 0.0095–0.02 Hz, Freq II, 0.02–0.06 Hz, Freq III, 0.06–0.15 Hz, Freq IV, 0.15–0.4 Hz, and Freq V, 0.4–1.6 Hz; Acup, acupuncture; and Moxi, moxibustion.

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  Figure 4. Blood flux signal correlation analysis between two points. (a) Correlation between the P point and S point. (b) Correlation between the D point and S point. (c) Correlation between the U point and S point. (d) Correlation between the R point and S point. (e) Correlation between the D point and P point. (f) Correlation between the U point and R point. PCC, Pearson correlation coefficient. The PCC is the average of 10 participants. Acup, acupuncture; Moxi, moxibustion.