Analysis on postmortem tissues at acupuncture points in the image datasets of Visible Human Project

The objective of this study is to search for distinct features in the color of human tissues under acupuncture points.

The data for computerized tomography and anatomical images of human males were downloaded with permission from the Visible Human Project initiated by the National Library of Medicine. The colors of digitalized anatomical cryosection images were represented by red-green-blue (RGB) values at every point of the body with 1-mm spatial precision. The computerized tomography data were used for positioning the acupuncture points in the three-dimensional frame by following the proportional method and the skeleton metric method. The anterior and posterior aspects of the trunk, which included the abdomen and the lower part of the thorax, were the regions of interest.

The acupuncture points under consideration were aligned on the conception vessel, the kidney meridian, the stomach meridian for the front of the trunk, and the governor vessel and the bladder meridians for the back of the trunk. A total of 83 acupuncture points were located on the skin surface of the body in three-dimensional space. We obtained RGB color variations with depth under the skin of the body at fixed acupuncture points and analyzed them by the types of meridians. Color localization at the acupuncture points and directional patterns along the meridians were found at specific depths under the skin.

This study is shown to be a unique method for understanding the anatomy of acupuncture points and meridians in three-dimension space, and it is suggested that color may be a useful characteristic when searching for a physical basis of the system.