Online Assessment of Hemodynamics in the Suctioned Volume of Biological Tissue by an Embedded Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Sensor

Abstract

Cupping therapy is a promising method to cure or reduce symptoms of some diseases including muscle pain/tenderness/fatigue. Although the applications of cupping therapy have a thousand-year history in traditional Chinese medicine and have been spread to other countries in recent years, cupping therapy is something like a black box, and the unskilled user can hardly control it due to the absence of physiological observations. In this study, we developed a NIRS instrument with three probes to detect the blood-oxygen level of the skin tissue where the cupping therapy is being carried out. Each probe includes two detection channels. One of the probes is embedded in the cup to monitor the hemodynamic parameters in the cupping site, and the other two probes are placed outside, surrounding the cupping site. Using this monitor, we can observe the changes in oxy-hemoglobin ([HbO2]), deoxy-hemoglobin ([Hb]), and total hemoglobin ([tHb]), as well as the heart rate, calculated from the change curves of [HbO2] during cupping therapy in real time. Therefore, the doctor or other users can see the impact of cupping on the tissues to which it is applied which should facilitate the development and understanding of the application of cupping.