Using Electrical Conductance as the Evaluation Parameter of Pain in Patients With Low Back Pain Treated by Acupuncture Like Tens

Abstract

This study was to objectively evaluate the treatment effect of acupuncture-like transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (AL-TENS) on patients with low back pain. Fifty patients suffering from low back pain for at least three months were involved in the study from Chang Gung Memorial Hospital. The subjects were treated with TENS (100 Hz) on acupuncture points (BL23 and BL25). Two electrodes were placed on two right acupoints and two electrodes on the left. Pulse duration of electrical stimulation was fixed at 0.1 ms. The intensity of stimulation was adjusted at a tolerable level for each subject. Patients were treated for twenty minutes per visit, three times a week for two weeks. Visual analog scale (VAS) was used to rank the degree of pain before and two weeks after the treatment. A device, the design of which is based on the Ryodoraku theorem, was used to measure the electrical conductance of 12 meridians and 2 acupoints (BL23 and BL25) on both sides of the subjects. The effect of age difference on the pain score was also evaluated with the electrical conductance. The correlation between the VAS and the electrical conductance in the patients before and after treatment of AL-TENS was determined by linear regression analysis. The results showed that: (1) after the AL-TENS treatment in this study, the electrical conductances of either meridians or acupuncture points increased with the decrease of VAS of the patients; (2) the correlation was higher in the acupoints than that in the meridians; (3) the correlation was higher in the younger group than that in the older group; (4) the effect of AL-TENS on the change of VAS is more related to the change of electrical conductances of acupoints than that of meridians. These findings suggest that electrical conductance of meridian or acupoint can be used to evaluate the degree of pain more objectively, especially in the younger patients.

The Evaluation of Two Modulated Frequency Modes of Acupuncture-Like Tens on the Treatment of Tennis Elbow Pain

“…The results also demonstrated that the reason for the increase of electrical conductance could be the soothing of nerve and muscle and improving of local blood circulation in the deep tissue which were stimulated by the frequency of 5 KHz [22][23][24][25]; whilst the decrease of VAS was the analgesic effect caused by the frequency of either 2 Hz or 100 Hz [17,36].…”

“…In our previous research [34][35][36], healthy control and sham control as well as 2 Hz and 100Hz frequency modes of TENS without modulated frequency of 5 KHz were studied. The data from previous studies showed that there was no significant difference in electrical conductances of meridians or acupoints before and after treatment.…”

“…Biotech, with Taiwan's Patent), the design of which is based on the Ryodoraku theory. This device has been used in previous studies [34][35][36]. Also, the electrical conductances of two acupuncture points (LI10 and LI11) in the area of tennis elbow pain were measured.…”

Prediction of Low Back Pain with Two Expert Systems

“…There are also various studies in recent years to diagnose the LBP based on skin conductivity as a replacement method for the VAS [7][8][9]. Although there have been a great deal of research coping with the LBP in the literature, in terms of the VAS scale and the resistance, the prediction of the LBP using the ANN and ANFIS has not been investigated yet.…”

System for simultaneous measurements of bilaterally symmetrical acupoints multifrequency impedances

“…But these devices are inadequate in practical application. From a technical standpoint, the main inadequacies are as follows:8–11…”