[An approach to objective indexes for differentiating floating, sunken, feeble and forceful pulses in traditional...

Objectification of Pulse-taking diagnosis is very important for modernization of TCM. Nowadays radial sphygmogram at wrist is usually taken as an objective index of pulse condition, but there are no good means to differentiate quantitatively Floating, Sunken, Feeble and Forceful pulses. In the present paper sphygmograms were taken under a serious of counter-pressure (CP) in order to approach this problem. The CP was a pressure put on the transducer to imitate finger force during pulse-taking. At first the main wave of sphygmogram in all subjects was usually getting higher and higher as the CP increased. After a maximum amplitude was attended, on the contrary, it became lower gradually with further increase of CP. The sphygmogram with maximum amplitude was called optimum sphygmogram (OS) and its corresponding CP called optimum counter-pressure (OCP). Taking CP as abscissa and amplitude of main wave (A) as ordinate, a curve of relation between CP and A (CP-A curve) might be obtained. OCP in Floating pulse tended to low (5-10 kPa), and then the CP-A curve went downwards gradually following the increase of CP.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)