Comparative Analysis of Photoplethysmography under Pulsed Magnetic Field and Low Level Laser Stimulus: Motivation for Blood Flow Increase using Stimulus on Acupoint LI4 (Hegu)

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of pulsed magnetic field (PMF) and low frequency low level laser (LFLLL) stimuli on acupoint LI4 (Hegu) using photoplethysmography (PPG). Our PMF system was designed to generate maximum intensity of 0.20 T at a transition time of 0.16 ms, with pulse intervals of 1 Hz. The diode laser with wavelength of 650 nm and power of 5 mW was also employed. It was observed the change of the pulsating blood volume through measuring PPG signals from both hands. These results imply that stimulating acupoint LI4 with PMF and LFLLL improves the circulation of peripheral vascular system. In particular, PMF stimulation brings a big improvement of the blood flow even with short term stimulation of 3-4 minutes compared to LFLLL stimulus.