[Comparative study of reflectance spectroscopy of women's acupoints around menstruation]

Acupoint was reaction of viscera and its optical parameter was an important characteristic of tissue. In the present work, in order to discuss specificity of acupuncture on the response of qi and blood in human body, we compared the diffuse reflectance of Taichong (LV3), Taibai (SP3), and Chongyang (ST42) before, during and after menstruation. All the acupoints had the same shape of the spectrum and troughs were all at 423.16, 544.06 and 577.47 nm. The values of reflectance during menstruation were greater than before and after menstruation, especially for SP3 and ST42 (P < 0.05). SP3 and ST42 were more sensitive to the changes of qi and blood than LV3, and it was asymmetric and we found no evidence for the imbalance of the left side and right. These results indicated that acupoint diffuse reflectance changed with qi and blood, and that SP3 and ST42 had close relationship with menstruation. Diffuse reflectance may be possibly used in the quantitative analysis of qi and blood.