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• Clinical Article •
Feasibility of fMRI of the human cervical spinal cord using electrical acupoints stimulation
CHEN Ye-xi  SHEN Zhi-wei  XIAO Ye-yu  LI Zhi-yang  WU Ren-hua  KONG Kang-mei 

DOI:10.3969/j.issn.1674-8034.2010.06.009.


[Abstract] Objective: To explore the feasibility of spinal cord fMRI using electrical stimulation of the Hoku and Quchi acupoints.Materials and Methods: There were eight healthy volunteers whose Hoku acupoint in the right hand and Quchi acupoint in the right fore-arm were stimulated by electrical acupuncture simultaneously. Based on the block design method, functional responses were established by students' group t-test analysis of the SPM2 software. The total number of pixels and the maximum intensity value of spinal cord activation in sagittal plane were analyzed. Meanwhile, the location of activation in axial plane was observed. Furthermore, the influence of the different stimulation time on the signal distribution and strength was compared.Results: There were activations in both sagittal plane and axial plane of eight volunteers. The activations distributed in spinal segments C2-T1, but mainly concentrated in C2, C4, C5 and C6 segments. The ipsilateral main active regions, especially in the posterior horn of the spinal cord and anterior horn (functional area), were found in axial plane and less significantly active areas were also found on the lateral horn. The maximum signal strength of three times stimulation group is higher than that of five times stimulation group and there are fewer false activation in three times stimulation group.Conclusion: The spinal cord activation areas led by electrical simulation of Hoku and Quchi acupoints can be observed by fMRI. There are certain characteristics with the distribution of the activation.
[Keywords] Functional magnetic resonance imaging；Spinal cord；Electrical acupuncture

CHEN Ye-xi Deparment of Surgery, the Second Affiliated Hospital, Medical College of Shantou University, Shantou 515041, China

SHEN Zhi-wei Department of Radiology, the Second Affiliated Hospital, Medical College of Shantou University, Shantou 515041, China

XIAO Ye-yu Department of Radiology, the Second Affiliated Hospital, Medical College of Shantou University, Shantou 515041, China

LI Zhi-yang Deparment of Surgery, the Second Affiliated Hospital, Medical College of Shantou University, Shantou 515041, China

WU Ren-hua* Department of Radiology, the Second Affiliated Hospital, Medical College of Shantou University, Shantou 515041, China

KONG Kang-mei* Deparment of Surgery, the Second Affiliated Hospital, Medical College of Shantou University, Shantou 515041, China

*Correspondence to: Kong KM, kongkm@vip.sina.com Wu RH, cjr.wurenhua@vip.163.com

Conflicts of interest   None.

Received  2010-05-06
Accepted  2010-09-10
DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1674-8034.2010.06.009
DOI:10.3969/j.issn.1674-8034.2010.06.009.

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