Magnetic resonance imaging and acupuncture: a feasibility study on the migration of tracers after injection at acupoints of small animals

Journal of Acupuncture and Meridian Studies
Jungdae KimKwang-Sup Soh

Abstract

Acupuncture meridians in traditional Oriental medicine are known to be channels connecting specific points in the surface of the body to corresponding internal organs. We investigated the permeation and the transport of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent and tracer after injection at acupoints of small animals, such as rats and mice. A geometric and systematic arrangement of acupuncture points on human skin surfaces has been depicted in traditional Oriental medicine, and the positions of the acupoints of small animals were determined by the application of a proportion on the animals corresponding to the morphological structures in humans. After injecting the materials at various acupoints, the agent migration behaviors inside the body were monitored by MRI. The distributions of the injected materials were reconstructed in 3-dimensional images for a more intuitive presentation. The widely-used gadolinium-compound contrast agent was not useful. Rather, a recently developed fluorine compound was effective for imaging the migration of the agent after injection into the acupoints BL18, 20, and 23. The final distributions of the agent from each injection point corresponded to the respective organs of the acupoints. The r...Continue Reading

References

Apr 23, 2002·FASEB Journal : Official Publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology·Helene M LangevinMartin H Krag
Nov 7, 2002·International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics·Xiaobing FanGregory S Karczmar
Jul 26, 2005·Nature Biotechnology·Eric T AhrensPenelope A Morel
Jun 15, 2007·Research in Veterinary Science·Chang Shik YinHyeong Gyun Koh
Feb 26, 2008·Neuroscience Letters·Hugh MacPhersonAziz U R Asghar
Sep 1, 2008·Journal of Acupuncture and Meridian Studies·Byung-Cheon LeeKwang-Sup Soh

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

Feb 22, 2012·The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine : Research on Paradigm, Practice, and Policy·Jungdae KimSungchul Kim
Jan 9, 2016·Journal of Acupuncture and Meridian Studies·Jungdae KimSungchul Kim
Jun 24, 2015·Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine : ECAM·Jungdae Kim, Dae-In Kang

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Bladder Carcinoma In Situ

Bladder Carcinoma In Situ is a superficial bladder cancer that occurs on the surface layer of the bladder. Discover the latest research on this precancerous condition in this feed.

Bioinformatics in Biomedicine

Bioinformatics in biomedicine incorporates computer science, biology, chemistry, medicine, mathematics and statistics. Discover the latest research on bioinformatics in biomedicine here.