Abstract
This study was examined for effects of acupuncture of Zusanli (ST36) on the abdominal thermography of health subject. The volunteers who participating in this study had taken rest for 20-30 mins in room temperature (23-$25^{\circ}C$) before the examination and informed them what to prohibit smoking, drinking and administration of drug for the previous day. The thermography of abdomen including a below part of the chest was taken using Infra-Red Imaging System (IR 2000, MEDI-CORE Co, Korea) by time interval of 15 minutes at 15 min before, just before and 15 min after, 30 min after and 45 min after acupuncture stimulation. Acupuncture was applied to the left ST36 acupoint for 30 mins. The results showed that acupuncture of ST36 significantly had more potencies of changes on all the of abdominal thermography than those of control group. Also, it was observed that the quantities of thermal changes following acupuncture of ST36 been increased significantly comparing that of control group at all the ROIs (region of interest). Observed the thermography classified by ROI, however, it was failed that acupuncture of ST36 could modulate the specific areas concerning to the abdominal pathway of Stomach Meridian. These results suggest that acupuncture of ST36 may modulate thermal distributions and changes of abdominal areas including the below of chest.
