Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Conditions
Keywords
meridians, acupuncture, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, meridian phenomenon, infrared thermography
Brief summary
Although some important progresses were made in the field of the meridian research, no breakthroughs have been achieved. Besides,there are some problems in meridian researches. Particularly, previous research of meridian phenomenon involved lots of subjective elements and outcomes.Researches that use modern scientific techniques to investigate the biological characteristics of meridian phenomenon are urgently needed. Therefore, this study is designed to assess the heat transport characteristics of meridian phenomenon for the Heart and Lung meridians by using infrared thermography. Thus, the biological characteristics of meridian phenomenon could be presented objectively in a scientific methodology.
Detailed description
This study will include 40 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and 80 healthy adults. Infrared thermal imaging(ITI) examination will be adopted to assess the heat transport characteristics of the Heart and Lung meridians and investigate the specificity for the meridian-visceral correlation and site-to-site correlation between two specific meridians.
Interventions
DIAGNOSTIC_TESTInfrared thermography
A thermal imager (NEC InfRec R450, Avio Infrared Technologies Co., Ltd., Tokyo) will be used to record thermal images. The temperature of corresponding sites on the Heart and Lung meridians will be analyzed.
PROCEDUREMoxibustion
Two sessions of moxibustion intervention will be performed in the Heart meridian and Lung meridian, respectivey. During moxibustion, the temperature change of relevant sites in the Heart and Lung meridians will be measured by infrared thermal imaging. 1. Intervention in the Heart meridian: moxibustion will be performed above the acupoint HT3 of the Heart meridian 2. Intervention in the Lung meridian: moxibustion will be performed above the acupoint LU5 of the Lung meridian.
Sponsors
The Third Affiliated hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University
The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University
Zhejiang Chinese Medical University
Study design
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
DIAGNOSTIC
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
35 Years to 75 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria for COPD 1. Patients should meet the above diagnostic criteria, and the severity of COPD is in the stage of GOLD 2 or 3 based on pulmonary function testing; 2. COPD patients in the stable phase, who present with mild symptoms of cough, expectoration and short breath; 3. 35 ≤ age ≤75 years, male or female; 4. Patients have clear consciousness and could communicate with others normally; 5. Patients could understand the full study protocol and have high adherence.Written informed consent is signed by themselves or their lineal kin. Inclusion criteria for health volunteers 1. Healthy volunteers who could provide a recent medical examination report to confirm they have not any cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive, urinary, hematological, endocrine and neurological disease; 2. 35 ≤ age ≤75 years, male or female; 3. Participants have clear consciousness and could communicate with others normally; 4. Participants could understand the full study protocol and have high adherence .Written informed consent is signed by themselves or their lineal kin.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Temperature change of relevant sites | Baseline, 15 minutes during moxibustion, 5 minutes after stopping moxibustion | Infrared thermal imaging is used to record baseline temperature and the temperature change of corresponding sites along the Heart and Lung meridians. |
Countries
China
Contacts
Primary ContactYongliang Jiang, Ph.D
Backup ContactHantong Hu
Outcome results
None listed