The influence of acupuncture on the impedance measured by four electrodes on meridians

The impedance on the pericardium merdian near Quze (P3) and control points in 12 cases was measured by a four electrodes impedance instrument. The amplitude of impedance was recorded before, during and after needling the Neiguan. The result showed that the mean impedance on the meridian and control points before the needling were 52.8 +/- 11.0 (omega) and 61.7 +/- 10.3 (omega) respectively which had significant difference (P<0.05). During the needling, impedance decreased significantly on the meridian by 9.2 +/- 5.6 (omega) (P<0.001) while impedance decreased by only 0.12 +/- 2.4 (omega) on control points without significance (P>0.05). The impedance changed back to 51.1 +/- 11.3 (omega) and 59.9 +/- 11.0 (omega) on the meridian and control points respectively during the 5-10 minutes after withdrawing the needling. In some cases, impedance changed intermittently during the needling. The experiment implies that interstitial fluid increases during the needling by axon reflection and blood capillary expanding which may be one of the mechanisms of acupuncture regulation.