The pulse spectrum analysis at three stages of pregnancy

Visualizing a Cold Stress-Specific Pulse Wave in Traditional Pulse Diagnosis ('Tight Pulse') Correlated with Vascular Changes in the Radial Artery Induced by a Cold Pressor Trial

Radial pulse diagnosis is the most common method to examine the human health state in Traditional East Asian Medicine (TEAM). A cold stress-related suboptimal health state (subhealth) is often undetectable during routine medical examinations, however, it can be detected through the palpation of specific pulse waves, particularly a 'tight pulse', in TEAM. Therefore, this study examined a correlation between 'tight pulse' and vascular changes in the radial artery (RA) induced by a cold pressor trial (CPT). Twenty healthy subjects underwent sequentially control trial and CPT with room-temperature and ice-cold water, respectively, on the right forearm. The radial pulse and vascular changes were then examined on the left arm. The radial pulse scores for frequencies of 'tight pulse' with strong arterial tension increased after the CPT compared with the control trial. The pulse scores were reversely correlated with the RA thickness and volumes in ultrasonography, but not with changes in the systolic/diastolic blood pressure. The RA thickness-based vascular surface and three-dimensional images visualized a 'tight pulse' showing the vasoconstriction and bumpy-/rope-shaped vascular changes in the radial pulse diagnostic region after the CPT. These findings provide valuable insights into the potential integration of clinical radial pulse diagnosis with ultrasonography for cold-related subhealth.

Entropy Information of Pulse Dynamics in Three Stages of Pregnancy

The aim of the present study is to use entropy to explore the change of pulse generated by normal pregnant women with gestational. Firstly, the subjects were divided into early (E), middle (M), and late (L) three stages according to gestational age. Then, pulse signals of the Chi position of 90 pregnant women at different gestational ages were collected. Secondly, the four entropies, namely fuzzy entropy (FuEn), approximate entropy (ApEn), sample entropy (SamEn), and permutation entropy (PerEn), were applied to the analysis of the long-term pulse changes of the pregnancy. Finally, the related information about pulse in different stages of pregnancy is given by the analysis of four kinds of entropy. Furthermore, the statistical tests are conducted for further comparison, and the descriptive statistics and the results are presented. In addition, boxplots are employed to show the distribution of four entropies of pregnancy. This work has studied the changes in pulse during pregnancy from quantitative and qualitative aspects. Our results show that entropy improves the diagnostic value of pulse analysis during pregnancy and could be applied to facilitate noninvasive diagnosis of pregnant women's physiological signals in the future.

Wrist pulse signal acquisition and analysis for disease diagnosis: A review

Pulse diagnosis (PD) plays an indispensable role in healthcare in China, India, Korea, and other Orient countries. It requires considerable training and experience to master. The results of pulse diagnosis rely heavily on the practitioner's subjective analysis, which means that the results from different physicians may be inconsistent. To overcome these drawbacks, computational pulse diagnosis (CPD) is used with advanced sensing techniques and analytical methods. Focusing on the main processes of CPD, this paper provides a systematic review of the latest advances in pulse signal acquisition, signal preprocessing, feature extraction, and signal recognition. The most relevant principles and applications are presented along with current progress. Extensive comparisons and analyses are conducted to evaluate the merits of different methods employed in CPD. While much progress has been made, a lack of datasets and benchmarks has limited the development of CPD. To address this gap and facilitate further research, we present a benchmark to evaluate different methods. We conclude with observations of the status and prospects of CPD.

Disclosure of suboptimal health status through traditional Chinese medicine-based body constitution and pulse patterns

OBJECTIVES

Suboptimal health status (SHS) is a dynamic state wherein people have not been diagnosed with a disease but tend to develop diseases. People with SHS often experience fatigue and other nonspecific symptoms, which are related to a deviated body constitution in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). However, the correlation between TCM constitution and SHS has not been adequately investigated. Furthermore, no study has explored the radial pulse analysis-an assistive objective indicator of TCM constitution-in healthy people and people with SHS.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional study.

SETTINGS/LOCATION

Center for Traditional Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan.

SUBJECTS

Sixty-six adults (27 healthy participants and 39 participants with SHS) who were aged 20-39 years.

OUTCOME MEASURES

The body constitution questionnaire (BCQ) scores, suboptimal health status questionnaire-25 (SHSQ-25) scores, and radial pulse waves detected using sphygmography were recorded. Pulse wave analyses are presented as the ratio of frequency below 10 Hz to that above 10 Hz (SER10), which represent energy changes in organ blood flow.

RESULTS

Participants with SHS had significantly higher Yang-Xu, Yin-Xu, and stasis scores of BCQ compared with healthy participants. The SHSQ-25 scores of the participants with SHS were moderately correlated with their Yang-Xu, Yin-Xu, and stasis scores (r = 0.65, 0.66, and 0.72, respectively; all p < 0.001), but weak correlations were discovered for healthy participants. The participants with SHS had significantly higher SER10 at the left guan (the "liver" system in TCM) than did the healthy participants.

CONCLUSIONS

SHS is moderately correlated with TCM-based constitution and those with SHS had increased SER10 at the leftguan of the radial pulse.

A critical examination of the main premises of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) consists of a plethora of therapeutic approaches aiming to both characterize and treat diseases. Its utilization has gained significant popularity in the western world and is even backed by the World Health Organization's decision to include TCM diagnostic patterns into the new revision of the International Classification of Diseases code, the global standard for diagnostic health information. As these developments and potentially far-reaching decisions can affect modern healthcare systems and daily clinical work as well as wildlife conservation, its underlying factual basis must be critically examined. This article therefore provides an overview of the evidence underlying the basic TCM concepts, such as Qi, meridians, acupuncture, pulse and tongue diagnostics as well as traditional herbal treatments. Moreover, it discusses whether scientific literature on TCM reflects the current standard for evidence-based research, as described in good scientific practice and good clinical practice guidelines. Importantly, misinformation regarding the therapeutic efficacy of animal-derived substances has lead and currently leads to problems with wildlife preservation and animal ethics. Nevertheless, the (re-)discovery of artemisinin more than 50 years ago introduced a novel development in TCM: the commingling of Eastern and Western medicine, the appreciation of both systems. The need for more rigorous approaches, fulfilment of and agreement to current guidelines to achieve high-quality research are of utmost relevance. Thereby, ancient knowledge of herbal species and concoctions may serve as a possible treasure box rather than Pandora's box.

A machine learning method correlating pulse pressure wave data with pregnancy

Pulse feeling , representing the tactile arterial palpation of the heartbeat, has been widely used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) to diagnose various diseases. The quantitative relationship between the pulse wave and health conditions however has not been investigated in modern medicine. In this paper, we explored the correlation between pulse pressure wave (PPW), rather than the pulse key features in TCM, and pregnancy by using deep learning technology. This computational approach shows that the accuracy of pregnancy detection by the PPW is 84% with an area under the curve (AUC) of 91%. Our study is a proof of concept of pulse diagnosis and will also motivate further sophisticated investigations on pulse waves.

The use of time-domain analysis on the choice of measurement location for pulse diagnosis research: A pilot study

BACKGROUND

Pulse diagnosis researches acquiring pulse waves from the wrist radial artery has not yet addressed the issue of whether this information is affected by differences in the hemodynamic characteristics of pressure waves derived from different locations. This study aimed to clarify whether the blood dynamic states are identical with regard to the "three positions and nine indicators" ((Equation is included in full-text article.)) listed in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

METHODS

A total of 37 participants of CAD group and 20 participants of healthy group were recruited, and pressure pulse waves were measured at 18 locations on both hands. A multivariate analysis (MANOVA) was performed with a "randomized block design" using SPSS 22.0 and R 3.4.1 to examine the time-domain parameters that represented certain hemodynamic characteristics.

RESULTS

In CAD group, the results showed significant differences (p < 0.05) among the h1, h2, h3, h1/t, and h3/h1 measurements of the pulse waves using different indicators at the same position; the h1, h2, h3, and h1/t measurements of the pulse waves at different positions using the indicator "Superficial"; and the h1, h2, h3, h1/t, and h3/h1 measurements of the pulse waves at different positions using the indicator "Medium". In healthy group, the results showed significant differences (p < 0.05) among the h1, h2, h3, and h1/t measurements of the pulse waves using different indicators at the same position; the h1, h2, and h1/t measurements of the pulse waves at different positions using the same indicator.

CONCLUSION

Because of the differences in the hemodynamic characteristics among the different positions and indicators, the article might provide a new opinion for future pulse diagnosis investigations to carefully consider the measurement location to ensure the completeness of the information.

Different Harmonic Characteristics Were Found at Each Location on TCM Radial Pulse Diagnosis by Spectrum Analysis

Purpose

This study aimed to clarify whether it is appropriate to choose any measurement location for pulse diagnosis research.

Methods

A total of 37 subjects were recruited and measured for pulse pressure waves at 18 locations (9 per hand of "three positions and nine indicators"). These data were Fourier-transformed to the frequency spectrum, and the harmonics of C0-C10 of each location were obtained. Box plots of the harmonics were generated using SPSS v.22.0 and R v.3.4.1. Data were compared with multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) with a randomized block design.

Results

The results showed that certain harmonics were different at different positions and different indicators; the harmonics of the same indicator at different positions (except for C8 and C10) and those of different indicators for the same position (except for C4 and C5) were significantly different (p<0.05).

Conclusions

In future researches of pulse diagnosis, due to the significant differences between positions and indicators, it is recommended that the measurement position should be carefully chosen instead of choosing any measurement location to ensure the integrity of the acquired information for further analyzing physiological or pathological status.

The effect of short-term bed-rest on radial pulse in healthy subjects

The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of short-term bed rest on the radial pulse in healthy subjects. Twenty-one healthy volunteers participated in this study. Their radial pulse was measured at different measuring positions using a multi-step tonometry system. The participants took 30 minutes of bed rest and their radial pulse was measured before and after the bed rest. The effects of bed rest on the radial pulse were analyzed. The pulse area, the amplitudes of h4 and h5, the pulse period, and the diastolic pulse proportion increased with short-term bed rest, whereas the proportions of systolic and hightension pulse and the fundamental frequency of the pulse wave decreased with short-term bed rest. All the changes were in the same direction in both male and female participants at all measuring positions; however, some parameters changed more in women than in men, and some changed more at the distal position than at the proximal position. In shortly, Short-term bed rest induces significant changes in the radial pulse of healthy subjects. The results of this study could be used as a control reference for clinical acupuncture studies with participants lying on a bed for acupuncture treatment.