Pressure stimulus study on acupuncture points with multi-channel multimode-fiber diffuse speckle contrast analysis (MMF-DSCA)

Abstract

A multi-channel multimode-fiber deep tissue flowmetry system has been constructed based on diffuse speckle contrast analysis (DSCA) for simultaneous blood flow measurements at different locations on the human body. This system has been utilized in an acupuncture study within the field of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), primarily focusing on acupuncture points along the large intestine meridian. Deep tissue blood flow was monitored at four different acupuncture points (LI1, LI5, LI10, and ST25) with a sampling rate of 60 Hz while applying pressure stimulus on LI4 (hegu or hapgok). Although the blood flow index (BFI) and blood volume (BV) did not exhibit significant changes after the pressure stimulus, an increase in the amplitude and complexity of low-frequency oscillations (LFOs) in microcirculation was observed. © 2023 Optica Publishing Group under the terms of the Optica Open Access Publishing Agreement.