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The hemodynamic changes during cupping therapy monitored by using an optical sensor embedded cup
Author(s) -
Kim Sungchul,
Kim Evgenii,
Jung Geunho,
Lee Sanghun,
Kim Jae G.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of biophotonics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.877
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1864-0648
pISSN - 1864-063X
DOI - 10.1002/jbio.201800286
Subject(s) - cupping therapy , hemodynamics , hemoglobin , suction cup , medicine , oxygenation , anesthesia , pathology , biology , alternative medicine , fishery , acupuncture
Cupping therapy is one form of alternative medicine that is used widely across the world. Although the applications of cupping therapy including pain relief have a 1000‐year history, the therapeutic effect of cupping is still questionable due to a lack of scientific evidence. Therefore, in the present study, we embedded a near‐infrared spectroscopic sensor into a suction cup to monitor the hemodynamic changes on the treated site while the hemodynamics at the surrounding tissue of the cup was also simultaneously monitored by another near‐infrared spectroscopic sensor. The results from 10 healthy male subjects show a dramatic increase of the oxy‐hemoglobin (OHb) and deoxy‐hemoglobin (RHb) concentrations at the treatment site while the OHb and RHb levels were decreased at the surrounding tissue. Moreover, after the treatment, we observed that the OHb concentrations were maintained at a higher level than before treatment at both sites, which may demonstrate how cupping therapy works for treatment. In summary, the results showed that cupping therapy increases blood volume and tissue oxygenation at the treatment site while those were slightly decreased at the surrounding tissue. This study showed that the embedding of near‐infrared spectroscopy in a cupping system could offer a better understanding of the mechanism of cupping therapy.