Although some important progresses were made in the field of the meridian research, no breakthroughs have been achieved. Besides,there are some problems in meridian researches. Particularly, previous research of meridian phenomenon involved lots of subjective elements and outcomes.Researches that use modern scientific techniques to investigate the biological characteristics of meridian phenomenon are urgently needed. Therefore, this study is designed to assess the microcirculatory characteristics of meridian phenomenon for the Heart and Lung meridians by using laser doppler. Thus, the biological characteristics of meridian phenomenon could be presented objectively in a scientific methodology
This study will include 40 patients diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and 80 healthy volunteers. Laser doppler examination will be adopted to assess the microcirculatory characteristics of meridian phenomenon for Heart and Lung meridians in the physiology/pathological state. Moreover, the site specificity for the meridian-visceral association and surface-surface association between the Heart and Lung meridians will be investigated.Primary outcomes will be blood flow curve and blood perfusion units(PU).Furthermore, this study will build standardized techniques and schemes for detecting the microcirculatory characteristics of meridian phenomenon for Heart and Lung meridians. The results of this study could also provide scientific foundation for traditional meridian theories.
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
120
A laser doppler flowmetry will be used to measure the microcirculatory characteristics of meridian phenomena. The probes will be left at relevant measuring sites. Blood flow curve and Perfusion units (PU ) will be recorded constantly. 1. Healthy control group and COPD group The probes will be left at Shenmen (HT7) and Shaohai (HT3) of the Heart meridian, Taiyuan (LU9) and Chize (LU5) of the Lung meridian for 5 minutes. 2. Healthy intervention group Two sessions of moxibustion will be performed in the Heart meridian and Lung meridian successively.
the Third affiliated hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical university
Hanzhou, Zhejiang, China
RECRUITINGBlood flow curve
The blood flow curve could reflect the microcirculatory flux in the measuring sites.
Time frame: 5 minutes of baseline, 15 minutes during moxibustion and 5 minutes after stopping moxibustion.
Blood perfusion units
Perfusion units (PU)=concentration of moving blood cells (CMBC)×velocity (V)
Time frame: 5 minutes of baseline, 15 minutes during moxibustion and 5 minutes after stopping moxibustion.
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