Analysis of HRV and Body Temperature Variation for Manual Acupuncture and PEMF (Pulsed Electro-Magnetic Field) Acupuncture Stimulation

Objective: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the clinical therapeutic effectiveness and applicability of the PEMF (pulsed electro-magnetic field) acupuncture. To verify this, we observe autonomic nervous system (ANS; such as the HRV and body temperature) variation for the manual acupuncture and the PEMF acupuncture.
Method: 56 voluntary participants were divided into three groups; non-stimulation group, manual acupuncture group (MAG), and PEMF acupuncture group (PAG). BL15 (Bladder Meridian) was selected as the stimulation area, the PEMF parameters were chosen at 2 Hz and 46mT. The HRV and body temperature were measured before and after each stimulation. The HRV at low frequency (LF; 0.04 - 0.15 Hz) and high frequency (HF; 0.15 - 0.4 Hz) were analyzed to acquire LF/HF ratio.
Results: The LF and the LF/HF ratio were found to be lower in the MAG (p = 0.026) and the PAG (p = 0.011), but higher in the non-stimulation group (p = 0.778). The HF was found to be higher in the MAG (p = 0.011) and the PAG (p = 0.013). In BL15, the non-stimulation group had very low body temperature variation. The temperature difference in the MAG before andafter the procedure was 0.37°C; there were no significant differences (p = 0.114). The temperature difference in the PAG was larger than that for the MAG, at 0.83°C; it was a significant difference (p = 0.001). Conclusion: We found that the manual acupuncture and the PEMF acupuncture at BL15 activated the parasympathetic nervous system. Therefore, we confirm that the PEMF acupuncture can be expected to have a similar effect as acupuncture and can be applied as a means of clinical acupuncture treatment.