Biomed Tech (Berl). 2002 Apr; 47(4): 76-9.

[Changes in cerebral near infrared spectroscopy parameters during manual acupuncture needle stimulation]

Litscher G, Wang L, Huber E.

Biomedizintechnische Forschung, Universitätsklinik für Anästhesiologie und Intensivmedizin Graz, Austria. gerhard.litscher@uni-graz.at

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRO 300, Hamamatsu Photonics, Japan) was used to monitor human cerebral function in the central region during manual acupuncture needle stimulation of the large intestine 4 (LI.4) point in 16 adult volunteers (9 females, 7 males; mean age 23.9 +/- 6.0 (SD) years, range 19-45 years). We found a significant (p < 0.001) decrease in oxyhaemoglobin after needle insertion and stimulation (duration 20 sec.), accompanied by an increase (p = 0.003) in deoxyhaemoglobin. A repeat stimulation showed similar effects. Cytochrome oxidase aa3 remained unchanged during stimulation. The results demonstrate that near-infrared spectroscopy may be a noninvasive method of measuring regional changes in cerebral haemodynamics resulting from peripheral acupuncture stimulation.