Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2009 Dec;2(4):259-68.
doi: 10.1016/S2005-2901(09)60066-2.

A multichannel system for continuous measurements of skin resistance and capacitance at acupuncture points

Agatha P Colbert  1 , Adrian Larsen, Steve Chamberlin, Carrie Decker, Heather C Schiffke, William L Gregory, Tran Thong
Affiliations

A multichannel system for continuous measurements of skin resistance and capacitance at acupuncture points

Agatha P Colbert et al. J Acupunct Meridian Stud. 2009 Dec.

Abstract

Electrodermal screening (EDS) is based on three commonly held assumptions: acupuncture points (APs) have lower electrical resistance than non-APs; resistance at APs varies with health and disease; and effective acupuncture treatments are associated with normalization of resistance at APs. Although evidence confirming these assumptions is limited, EDS is frequently practiced worldwide. Researchers are also beginning to assess EDS' utility as an outcome measure in acupuncture trials. Fundamental in developing EDS as a research tool is the need for an accurate and reliable measurement. We developed an automated multichannel prototype system, the Octopus, and recorded electrical resistance and capacitance at eight skin sites in 33 healthy participants over 2 hours. The Octopus accurately measured against known resistors (within 2.5% of the mean value) and capacitors (within 10% of the mean value), and yielded repeatable readings at all eight skin sites: LR 1 (r=0.79), SP 1 (r=0.79), toe non-AP (r=0.77), LU 9 (r=0.97), PC 6 (r=0.96), wrist non-APs (r=0.97), SP 6 (r=0.96), and leg non-APs (r=0.97). Resistance at APs was significantly lower than the nearby non-APs in one out of three comparisons.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Block diagram of the eight channel Octopus custom board.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The Octopus system. The National Instruments SCC-68 I/O screw terminal board with cable interface to the PCI card inside a desktop computer is shown on the left. The custom designed Octopus board on the right (depicted in Figure 1), with a white SCC box cover. The eight leads connecting to skin electrodes and the ground connector on the right are shown on top of the Octopus board.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Biopac electrodes on acupuncture points (APs) and nearby non-AP sites, including (A) right Lung (LU 9), Pericardium (PC 6), and a non-AP site located midway; (B) right Spleen (SP 1), Liver (LR 1) and a non-AP site located midway; and (C) SP 6 and a non-AP site located on the border of the tibia.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Differences in resistance between acupuncture points (AP) and non-acupuncture sites (non-APs) appear to be associated with the distance between the two sites.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Mean resistance differences between the average of the AP pair (LU 9 + PC 6) and the nearby non-AP comparison site in 33 individual participants.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Mean resistance differences between the average of the AP pair (LR 1 + SP 1) and the nearby comparison site in 33 participants.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Mean resistance differences between SP 6 and its nearby non-AP comparison site in 33 participants.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Nakatani Y. On the nature of the acupuncture points and meridians. J Japan Orient Med. 1953;3:39–49.
    1. Niboyet JEH, Bourdiol RJ, Regard PG. Traité D'Acupuncture. Maisonneuve; Paris: 1963. La moindre résistance a l'électricité de surfaces punctiformes et de trajects cutanés concordant avec les points et meridiens, bases de l'acupuncture. In French.
    1. Voll R. Twenty Years of Electroacupuncture Diagnosis in Germany. A progress report. Am J Acupunct. 1975;3:7–17.
    1. Becker R, Reichmanis M, Marino A, Spadaro J. Electrophysiological correlates of acupuncture points and meridians. Psychoenergetic Syst. 1976;1:105–12.
    1. Reichmanis M, Marino AA, Becker RO. Electrical correlates of acupuncture points. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 1975;22:533–5. - PubMed

Publication types