A preliminary study on effect of electro-acupuncture by the cortical infrared thermography

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To explore the possibility of using cortical infrared thermography (CIT) and temperature in studying the principle of acupuncture and moxibustion. METHODS: The changes of the cerebral cortical temperature during electro-acupuncture (EA) by CIT in twenty cats were observed. By opening skull before experiments the cortex of animals was revealed. The distribution of the cortical temperature of the awakend animals was studied by AGA Infrared Thermovision, the thermograms were analysed by computer. RESULTS: (1) The thermograms of the profile of the cortex could be displayed clearly, the temperature was higher and lower in ante- and post-cortex respectively than that in other regions. (2) The cortical temperature declined slightly during 30 minutes in cats without EA. (3) After EA, the temperature of cortex generally increased 0.3 to 1.7 degrees centigrade, at 5 min after EA, the temperature increment was the highest, at 10 min after EA, the temperature increment was higher than before EA but lower than 5 min after EA, the cortical temperature recovered 10 min after stopping stimulating. (4) The temperature increment was more obvious in the regions of Ant. Ectosylvian, Ant. Suprasylvian and Ant. Sylvian than that in other regions. No matter where the site of EA was, every group had its region of higher temperature increment. The regions of the temperature increment in the cortex were mainly in the somatesthesia regions. There were similar characteristics between the temperature response in the cortex showing by CIT after EA and the activity of cortical nerve cells after stimulation. CONCLUSION: The display of the temperature response could be taken as the indication of the nervous activity. CIT could be used to conduct the studies of the acupuncture and brain.