Application of Short-Time MSE in Assessing Impact of Acupuncture on Peripheral Blood Flow and Autonomic Activities in Normal and Overweight Subjects

Abstract

Zusanli (ST-36) is one of the four most important acupoints in traditional Chinese medicine because it is believed to co-ordinate the functions of the immunological and gastrointestinal systems. We test the hypothesis that acupuncture at Zusanli may have significant impact on peripheral blood flow and autonomic activities by computing the area under the pulse volume curves and heart rate variability from data acquired through non-invasive approaches of eight-channel photoplethysmography and electrocardiography (ECG), respectively, from 28 healthy young adults (22 males, 6 females). Moreover, the complexity of physiological signals was compared in terms of multiscale entropy (MSE) and short-time MSE (sMSE) before and after acupuncture. The results demonstrate significant elevation of peripheral blood flow in all subjects during and immediately after acupuncture, suggesting elevated parasympathetic activities. On the other hand, significantly reduced sympathetic activities were noted in subjects with body mass index (BMI) \25 (n = 18) (p \ 0.05). Additionally, MSE analysis of the R-R interval from a 5-min recording of ECG from subjects with BMI \ 25 before and immediately after acupuncture showed significantly elevated sMSE immediately after acupuncture. However, no significant difference was noted in MSE between the two time points. In conclusion, the results of this study demonstrate that acupuncture at Zusanli augments systemic parasympathetic activities and peripheral circulation. Furthermore, sMSE revealed increased physiological complexity after acupuncture for individuals with normal weight.

Effects of Combined Far‐Infrared Radiation and Acupuncture at ST36 on Peripheral Blood Perfusion and Autonomic Activities

“…Consistently, the current study showed that acupuncture could boost peripheral perfusion as previously reported [ 36 , 37 ]. Nevertheless, combination of acupuncture and FIR had no additional benefit in terms of increasing peripheral blood flow in this study.…”

Discrepancies between Conventional Multiscale Entropy and Modified Short-Time Multiscale Entropy of Photoplethysmographic Pulse Signals in Middle- and Old- Aged Individuals with or without Diabetes

“…With regard to the modified short-duration MSE (sMSE) proposed by Chang et al, the sMSE of 600 peripheral arterial pulse wave velocity (PWV) signals was in line with the cMSE of 1000 PWV signals in healthy individuals and in those with diabetes [6]. Furthermore, Yang et al used the sMSE of 350-400 electrocardiographic R-R intervals to evaluate the change of peripheral blood flow before and after acupuncture in healthy subjects [7].…”

“…Accordingly, the present study analyzed PPG signals using an overall MSE index (the average of scales 1-10, MSE [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] ) and by dividing the MSE into small scales (the average of scales 1-5, MSE [1][2][3][4][5] ) and large scales (scales 6-10, MSE 6-10 ) for inter-groups comparisons.…”

Analyzing the effect of moxibustion treatment using the maximum instantaneous frequency of photoplethysmogram signals based on Hilbert–Huang transforms

“…A PPG signal is formed from photoelectric conversion, which reflects the change in blood vessel volume and the health of the cardiovascular system. 2,3 PPG signals express many biological information. 4 After the decomposition and reconstruction of PPG signals, a potential relationship can be studied between different PPG signal characteristics and cardiovascular health in humans.…”