Electrical characterization of acupuncture points: technical issues and challenges.

Acupuncture points are frequently described as having distinct electrical properties. These properties include increased conductance, reduced impedance and resistance, increased capacitance, and elevated electrical potential compared to adjacent nonacupuncture points. Commercial electrodiagnostic devices have used this assertion as a means to localize and analyze acupuncture points for diagnostic purposes. Yet, the electrical characterization of acupuncture points is associated with important technical issues that are often overlooked. Electrode polarizability, stratum corneum impedance, presence of sweat glands, choice of contact medium, electrode geometry, and other factors contribute to the final electrodermal reading and may cause doubts about the validity of available electrodiagnostic devices. The goal of this review is to help researchers and clinicians understand these factors affecting electrodermal readings, to make apparent the difficulties and challenges confronting electrodermal readings, and to increase understanding about how these possible associations can be interpreted and understood from the perspective of biology.

[1]  H. Zirngibl,et al.  Sympathetic nervous system activity during laparoscopic and needlescopic cholecystectomy , 2002, Surgical Endoscopy And Other Interventional Techniques.

[2]  L. Kirkup,et al.  A direct comparison of wet, dry and insulating bioelectric recording electrodes. , 2000, Physiological measurement.

[3]  F. F. Royal,et al.  A review of the history and scientific bases of electrodiagnosis and its relationship to homeopathy and acupuncture , 1991 .

[4]  Murad Alam.  Fitzpatrick's Dermatology in General Medicine,6th ed , 2004 .

[5]  Sverre Grimnes,et al.  Bioimpedance and Bioelectricity Basics , 2000 .

[6]  J. González-Hernández,et al.  In vivo electrical characteristics of human skin, including at biological active points , 2006, Medical and Biological Engineering and Computing.

[7]  R. Voll.  TWENTY YEARS OF ELECTROACUPUNCTURE DIAGNOSIS IN GERMANY. A PROGRESS REPORT , 1975 .

[8]  Andrew A. Marino,et al.  Laplace plane analysis of impedance between acupuncture points H-3 and H-4. , 1977, Comparative medicine East and West.

[9]  J. Stern,et al.  Acupuncture loci: techniques for location. , 1974, The American journal of Chinese medicine.

[10]  K. Wolff.  Fitzpatrick's dermatology in general medicine Vol 1 , 2008 .

[11]  Tobias Pincock.  Fitzpatrick's Dermatology in General Medicine , 2003 .

[12]  T T Choy,et al.  A reliable method for locating electropermeable points on the skin surface. , 1980, The American journal of Chinese medicine.

[13]  Sverre Grimnes,et al.  Sources of error in tetrapolar impedance measurements on biomaterials and other ionic conductors , 2007 .

[14]  J.H. Cho,et al.  Frequency dependence of impedances at the acupuncture point Quze (PC3) , 2002, IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Magazine.

[15]  T. Yamamoto,et al.  Characteristics of skin admittance for dry electrodes and the measurement of skin moisturisation , 2006, Medical and Biological Engineering and Computing.

[16]  Heather Borg.  Alternative method of gifted identification using the AMI: an apparatus for measuring internal meridians and their corresponding organs. , 2003, Journal of alternative and complementary medicine.

[17]  J. Hyvärinen,et al.  Low-resistance skin points that may coincide with acupuncture loci. , 1977, Medical biology.

[18]  S Grover,et al.  Fitzpatrick's Dermatology in General Medicine , 2008 .

[19]  S Grimnes,et al.  Pathways of ionic flow through human skin in vivo. , 1984, Acta dermato-venereologica.

[20]  Sverre Grimnes,et al.  Measuring depth depends on frequency in electrical skin impedance measurements , 1999 .

[21]  Andrew A. Marino,et al.  Electrical Correlates of Acupuncture Points , 1975, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.