RU2576574C1 - Method of electroacupuncture diagnostics of the functional state of the organism - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: medicine.

SUBSTANCE: method is generated by the electrodes to the skin surface in a biologically active zone MS7 electrical pulse and measure the current passing through the electrodes. When this flow of electrical impulses conducted serially and measured flowing through the electrodes current from each pulse, recording every value of the detected noise signal and is subjected to digital processing to separate the useful signal by calculating a spectral function for each measurement, followed by repeated summation of amplitudes of the respective frequencies recorded in respective memory arrays and obtained by converting a moving average with a certain number of frequencies that differ in amplitude by more than ±30% before and after conversion by a moving average, count index functional disorders, is the ratio of the amounts of these differences to the total number of characteristic frequencies for each organ or system.

EFFECT: use of the invention can improve the accuracy of diagnosis due to the accumulation of the desired signal and improve the signal / noise ratio.

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Description

The invention relates to medicine, namely to electropuncture diagnostics, and can be used in various fields of medicine, psychology, sports and in mass use by the population, where monitoring of a person’s functional state is required.

Electropuncture diagnostic methods are widely used in medical practice. Currently, a large number of equipment has been developed in which the basic principles are implemented in one way or another - measuring the current flowing through biologically active points (BAP) in units of microamps or in arbitrary units, but somehow most of them are based on an analysis of the magnitude of this current , but differ in the parameters of measuring instruments and the analysis system of the received data.

In electropuncture diagnostics, a method for determining the functional state by biologically active points is currently known - the Voll method. In this method, a significant parameter for diagnosis is the amount of current flowing through the BAP, the magnitude of which assesses the degree of functional impairment. According to the method, a voltage of the order of 1.3 volts is applied to the active electrode, the test person takes the passive electrode in his hand, then the active electrode is applied to the BAT and the current value is measured in microamps from 0 to 13 microamps or in equivalent units from 0 to 5 seconds up to 100. In addition, it is known that the organs and systems of a biological object have characteristic frequencies of their functioning (A.V. Samokhin, Yu.V. Gotovskiy. Electropuncture diagnostics and therapy according to the method of R. Voll. Moscow, Imedis, 1995 .) that used in the specified method in order to correct the functional state during electrical stimulation.

The disadvantage of the Voll method is the long examination time due to the required number of diagnosed points, which, according to the methodology, averages about 150, and the dependence of the diagnostic results on the qualifications of medical personnel. In addition, there is no assessment of the spectral components of the diagnostic current form.

Another well-known method is the Nakatani method (A. T. Neborsky, S. A. Neborsky. Electrodermal conductivity in assessing the functional state. Triad Publishing House, Tver, 2007, ISBN 978-5-94789-220-8). In the known method, a significant diagnostic parameter is also the magnitude of the current flowing through the BAP, the magnitude of which assesses the degree of functional impairment. According to the Nakatani method, a voltage of about 9-18 volts is applied to the active electrode, the test person takes a passive electrode in his hand, then a hollow active electrode with a hydrophilic gasket is applied to the BAT and current is measured in microamps from 0 to 200 microamps or its equivalent for several seconds - in arbitrary units.

The disadvantage of the Nakatani method is the significant test voltage of about 9 ... 18 volts and, accordingly, a significant current in the BAP is about 200 μA, which leads to unpleasant sensations in sensitive patients and has a significant effect on the electric skin resistance in the BAT, thereby reducing the reliability of diagnosis . In addition, there is no assessment of the spectral components of the diagnostic current form. Another disadvantage is the large number of diagnosed points, equal to 36.

The closest analogue adopted for the prototype is the "Express diagnosis of maladaptation syndrome by the ROFES method" ISBN 978-5-8057-0731-6 and the method of rapid diagnosis of maladaptation syndrome by the ROFES method (patent RU No. 2202278, 2000), according to which the functional state determined by the results of spectral Fourier analysis of the envelope of the current shape through the MC7 zone as a result of exposure to a positive voltage polarity test pulse. The spectral characteristics for the state corresponding to a healthy person are compared with the spectral characteristics of the current subject, and based on a comparison of the amplitudes of the components of the spectrum that coincide in frequency, a conclusion is made on the degree of impairment of the functional state.

The main disadvantage of this method is a single measurement of current and the construction of a spectral function based on it, i.e. the useful signal can be comparable in amplitude with the noise level. This leads to a partial loss of useful information, and therefore to a decrease in the reliability of the diagnosis. In addition, when processing spectral function data, the sets of characteristic frequencies for each of the organs and systems, as well as the amplitude ratios between these sets, are not taken into account.

The basis of the proposed method is the task of increasing the reliability of the diagnosis of the functional state of the organism at one point.

The technical result is an increase in the reliability of determining the functional state of the body by reducing the adverse effects of the noise component.

The problem is solved by the fact that a method of electro-puncture diagnostics of the functional state of the organism is claimed in which electrical impulses are generated, which are supplied in series through electrodes to the skin surface in the MC7 biologically active zone, the noisy signals of each series pulse are measured in the form of a current passing through the electrodes, each recorded the value of the noisy signal and digitally process them with the selection of a useful signal by calculating the spectral function for each measurement followed by repeated summation of the amplitudes of the corresponding frequencies, recording of the arrays obtained in the corresponding memory modules and their conversion by the moving average method with the determination of the number of frequencies differing in amplitude by more than ± 30% before and after the conversion by the moving average method, the functional disturbance index is calculated equal to the ratio of the number of these differences to the total number of characteristic frequencies for each organ or system.

The method of electropuncture diagnostics of the functional state of the body is carried out by serial supply of electrical impulses to the surface of the skin on a biologically active zone.

The current pulses are fed by a pulse generator to the MC7 zone of the biological object by contact with the electrodes. Noisy signals in the form of current are measured, recorded in memory modules and digitally processed by the Fourier transform unit, in particular by determining the spectral function of the envelope of the current shape. The generated array of values of the spectral function of the current for each pulse is recorded in the array of the first memory block, after which, through the first block of the adder, the contents of the array of the first memory block are entered elementwise into the array of the second memory block. The array of the second memory block is the result of summing the amplitudes of the same frequencies of the spectral function of the entire series of pulses. The operations of recording, digital processing, and summing of the formed arrays in the first and second memory blocks are carried out for each pulse during the entire series of pulses. At the end of a series of pulses, the array of the second memory block is rewritten into the array of the third memory block and subjected to mathematical processing using the moving average algorithm. The data of the second memory block and the third memory block are fed to the second adder block, in which the values of the array of the second memory block and the values of the array of the third memory block, which are taken with the opposite sign, are added element-wise, the result of the summation is written into the fourth memory block as an array of zeros and ones , zeros if the difference in amplitudes is greater than the threshold value, or units if this difference is less than the threshold value. The contents of the array of the fourth memory block are divided into a group of arrays, the number of which corresponds to the number of tested organs and systems of a biological object, and the number of elements in these arrays corresponds to a set of characteristic frequencies for these organs and systems, while in each group of array elements as a criterion for assessing functional disorders biological object use the ratio between the number of zeros and ones.

The summation of the spectrum amplitudes makes it possible to distinguish the amplitudes of frequencies important for diagnostics against the background of noise (interference), since the true values of the spectrum amplitudes are repeated regularly with the same sign as compared to random bursts of noise (interference), which add up with different signs relative to the true value, and therefore, with an increase in the number of test pulses in a series, the contribution from noise (interference) in the amount will decrease in comparison with the useful signal, which improves the signal-to-noise (interference) ratio. This is especially true in cases where the useful signal is comparable in level with random interference. A random interference can be a network interference, which at different times can have a different phase, this is the inconstancy of the contact of the electrodes with the skin, which leads to current surges, this is a change in the surface impedance of the skin (Gurov A.A., Budnikov Yu.F., Koroleva MV, Meizerov EE Experimental studies of surface impedance characteristics during percutaneous electrical stimulation. // Electrical stimulation - 2002. Proceedings of the scientific and practical conference March 27-28, 2002 M., publishing house "VNIIMP-VITA" Research Institute medical instrument engineering, S. 118-123). Any change in the shape of the envelope of the current shape leads to a change in the amplitudes of the components of the spectrum (I. S. Gonorovsky. Radio engineering circuits and signals. - M., Soviet Radio, 1972, p. 34).

The inventive method allows to provide the claimed technical result by effecting a series of electrical pulses on one biologically active point, and a noisy current signal is processed by performing a certain order of actions that can increase the reliability of diagnostics by improving the signal-to-noise (interference) ratio. The inventive method in comparison with the prototype is characterized by the above distinctive features, and the claimed combination of features provides a new technical result. This allows us to conclude that the criteria of "novelty" and "inventive step" are met.

The inventive method is illustrated in the flowchart of FIG. one.

As can be seen from the block diagram, testing electrical pulses from a pulse generator (GI) through a shunt resistance (Rш) is supplied to one biologically active point - zone MC7 of a biological object (BO) by means of electrodes (not shown). The current I _BAP flows through (Rш), the envelope of which is digitized, then using the fast Fourier transform block (FFT) an array of spectral function values is formed and written into the array of the first memory block (M1 [I]), and then through the block of the first adder (Σ) the contents of the array (M1 [I]) are written elementwise into the array of the second memory block (M2 [I]). When the next test electric pulse is exposed, the procedure of digitizing the noisy signal and writing it to the array of the first memory block (M1 [I]) is repeated, after which the values of the array elements (M2 [I]) and (M1 [I]) are transmitted through the block of the first adder (Σ)) add and write to the array (M2 [I]). The process is repeated until the end of the series of pulses. Then the contents of the array M2 [I] are element-wise copied into the array of the third memory block (M3 [I]), the contents of which are subjected to mathematical processing using the moving average algorithm. Then, on the block of the second adder (Σ), the element-wise summation of the array (M2 [I]) and the values of the array (M3 [I]) is performed with the opposite sign, followed by the recording of the results of summation into the array of the fourth memory block (M4 [I]). Moreover, if the content in the corresponding element of the array (M2 [I]) differs from the corresponding in the array (M3 [I]) by more than ± 30%, then “0” is written to the corresponding element of the array (M4 [I]), if not - "one". Then, the contents of the array of the fourth memory block (M4 [I]) are divided into a group of arrays N1 [J] ... NN [JN], the number of arrays corresponding to the number of organs and systems being tested, and the number of elements J ... JN inside the array corresponding to the set of characteristic frequencies for these organs and systems. Next, they count the number of cells containing the value “0” inside each of the arrays N1 [J] ... NN [JN], and the risk ratio of a possible violation of the functional state of the biological object is determined by the ratio of the number of cells containing “0” to the number of units. For example, if in an array of 15 elements, including 12 cells containing “0”, then the functional impairment index is 12/15 = 0.8, which allows us to conclude that the deviation from the functional norm is 80% and corresponds to the level on a 5-point scale ( conditional assessment) = 1, which corresponds to a very high degree of risk. The complete absence of zero indicators would correspond to the functional norm, the absence of risks and the level (conditional assessment) = 5.

и $$A_n^2$$

отличаются от истинного значения Аист на величины +2Δ и -Δ соответственно, где Δ - минимальное значение шума (помехи), тогда: $$A_n^1=Аист+2\Delta$$

и $$A_n^2=Аист-\Delta$$

, что и проиллюстрировано на фиг. 2. При суммировании $$A=A_n^1+A_n^2=Аист+2\Delta +Аист-\Delta$$

. Таким образом, среднее значение $$\overline{A}=Аист+\Delta /2$$

стало точнее на половину значения Δ.Below are pictures explaining the reception method used in the inventive method for extracting a useful signal, which, in essence, is the determination of the arithmetic mean value of the amplitude. In FIG. Figure 2 shows plots of discrete spectra A ¹ and A ^{2 of the} envelope of the current shape, as an example, for only two current measurements. In FIG. Figure 3 shows the summation of two amplitudes of the same frequency ωn for two different spectra. Suppose that harmonics with the same frequency ωn $$A_n^{\mathrm{one}}$$

and $$A_{\mathrm{<figure-callout\; id="2"\; label="n"\; filenames="00000009.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">n</figure-callout>}}^2$$

differ from the true value of Stork by + 2Δ and -Δ, respectively, where Δ is the minimum value of noise (interference), then: $$A_n^{\mathrm{one}}=\mathrm{BUT}\mathrm{and}\mathrm{from}t+2\Delta$$

and $$A_{\mathrm{<figure-callout\; id="2"\; label="n"\; filenames="00000009.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">n</figure-callout>}}^2=\mathrm{BUT}\mathrm{and}\mathrm{from}t-\Delta$$

as illustrated in FIG. 2. When summing up $$A=A_n^{\mathrm{one}}+A_{\mathrm{<figure-callout\; id="2"\; label="n"\; filenames="00000009.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">n</figure-callout>}}^2=\mathrm{BUT}\mathrm{and}\mathrm{from}t+2\Delta +\mathrm{BUT}\mathrm{and}\mathrm{from}t-\Delta$$

. So the average $$\overline{A}=\mathrm{BUT}\mathrm{and}\mathrm{from}t+\Delta /2$$

became more accurate by half the value of Δ.

In digital signal processing, the moving average method is known, which is used to smooth short-term fluctuations and highlight the main trends, and it can be considered as a low-pass filter for signal processing (Greshilov A.A., Stakun V.A., Stakun A.A. Mathematical forecasting methods. - M.: Radio and Communications, 1997. - 112 pp. - ISBN 5-256-01352-1).

To implement the proposed method, the analysis of the spectrum of frequency characteristics is preferably carried out in the range of 0.1-100 Hz. The interval of one measurement in a series is preferably 10 seconds. The influence on the BAT of the pericardium-MS7 meridian is preferably carried out with a voltage amplitude of 4 V, with a current limitation of 60 μA. For example, to assess the functional state of human kidneys, a comparison of the amplitudes in the spectrum is carried out for frequencies: 2.8, 3.3, 3.5, 8.1, 9.2, 53, 63 Hz. Differences in the amplitudes of one frequency before treatment and after treatment affect the assessment of the severity of the pathology, resulting in a value (index), the value of which assesses the functional state of a person. Similarly, source data are obtained and processed to assess the functional state of the lumbar spine. The results are compared, after which they conclude, for example, that the functional state of the kidneys is reduced, one of the probable causes is osteochondrosis of the spine.

Work on the claimed method is as follows. Two electrodes are applied to the test subject’s left hand - the active one on the MC7 zone of the Pericardium meridian, located on the palm-midline of the forearm in the center of the transverse fold of the wrist, and the passive one is applied to the skin surface at a distance of a few centimeters from the MC7 zone. Then a series of testing electrical pulses is fed to the active electrode, the current signals are automatically recorded in the memory of the information processing device, which can be used as a computer, processed in accordance with the block diagram (Fig. 1), then the test results are displayed on a computer screen in in the form of tables with a list of organs and systems with corresponding scores in the range from 0 to 5 and with a text explanation to them.

Examples of specific performance. The inventive method was tested for pre-nosological diagnosis (preclinical test) of patients with various diseases of the broncho-pulmonary system and endocrine diseases. To implement the method, an apparatus of the type "ROFES" was used, which delivers a series of electrical pulses with an amplitude of 4 volts and with a limitation of the current value of 60 μA.

Example 1. Patient A., male, 35 years old. Standard clinical methods based on patient complaints, chest radiographs, blood tests, and the presence of dry rales were diagnosed with pneumonia on 06/04/14. A preclinical test of organs and systems on 05.06.14 revealed a high risk of lung dysfunction.

The risk assessment of lung dysfunction is based on an amplitude analysis of the harmonics of the spectrum at the following main frequencies: 8.3, 9.4, 58.5, 59, 72 Hz. Additionally, side harmonics relative to the central ones with a deviation of ± 0.1 Hz are taken into account, for example, for a frequency of 8.3 Hz, the amplitudes of the two side harmonics will be A8.2 and A8.4, and so for the entire series from A8.2 to A72.1. As a result of the increment evaluation, the array N1 [15] of 15 elements [0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0], in which 12 elements of 15 turned out to be zero. In this case, this ratio - the index of functional disorders was 12/15 = 0.8, which allowed us to conclude that the deviation from the functional norm is 80% and corresponds to the level (rating) = 1 on a 5-point scale, which corresponds to a very high degree of risk.

Example 2. Patient B., a woman, 67 years old. The standard clinical methods based on complaints, characteristic signs and biochemical analysis of blood established a diagnosis of moderate pancreatitis (stage II). To implement the method, an apparatus of the type "ROFES" was used, with which the risk of pancreatic dysfunction was identified. In this case, the ratio of zeros and ones was 12/21 = 0.57, which allowed us to conclude that the deviation from the functional norm was 60%, and on a 5-point scale it corresponds to the level (rating) = 2, which corresponds to a high degree of risk.

Example 3. Patient B., a woman, 79 years old. Based on the patient's complaints, an ultrasound scan revealed a thyroid disease - an increase in the second degree. The patient is undergoing pharmacological treatment prescribed by the attending physician. To implement the method, an apparatus of the type "ROFES" was used, with which an average risk of thyroid dysfunction was identified.

In this case, the ratio of zeros and ones was 10/21 = 0.38, which allowed us to conclude that the deviation from the functional norm is 40% and on a 5-point scale corresponds to the level (rating) = 3, which corresponds to a low degree of risk.

Improving the accuracy of diagnosis of the claimed method, and therefore, its reliability, is illustrated in FIG. 4, which shows a histogram explaining the distinctive features of the work according to the claimed method from the prototype. To build diagrams, a program was specially developed that simulates the effect of reducing the influence of noise on the true value and allows us to evaluate this effect quantitatively depending on the number of accumulated measurement cycles.

Let the interference range be ± 5Δ, i.e. it can be represented as an array of indices of these deltas [-5, -4, -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. For example, -5Δ - means the deviation of the experimental value from the true value by 5Δ downward, and 3Δ - its increase from the true value. The stronger the deviation, the grosser the error in the interpretation of the diagnostic results. We assume that the deviation by 5Δ is both a plus and a minus a fatal error. Zero index means no interference.

The simulation was carried out using a random number generator to select indices from the array with repetition up to 1000 times, we analyzed the ratio of the frequency of occurrence of numbers with extreme indices to the frequency of occurrence with a zero index for a single, double, triple, and quadruple summation of “spectrum amplitudes”, simulating such thus, measuring and summing the real amplitudes in the spectral function. In FIG. Figure 4 on the left in the lower row shows histograms without summation, and in the upper left to right two, three and four times the summation.

As a result, approximate ratios of the arithmetic mean of 0.92: 0.1: 0.03: 0.02 were obtained. This means that quadrupling the sum reduces the risk of random errors and miss-type errors compared to the prototype. This allowed us to identify functional disorders long before clinical manifestations and increased overall accuracy - the ratio of truly positive and negative results to all outcomes (percentage of coincidence) to 89%.

Thus, the use of the proposed method allows to obtain the claimed technical result, which is expressed in increasing the reliability of diagnostics, including by accumulating a useful signal and improving the signal-to-noise ratio (noise), as well as by evaluating the ratio between the amplitudes of the frequency spectrum related to different systems and organs.

Claims (1)

A method of electropuncture diagnostics of the functional state of an organism, which consists in generating an electrical impulse that is applied through electrodes to the skin surface in the MC7 biologically active zone, measuring the current passing through these electrodes, characterized in that the electrical impulses are fed in series and the current passing is measured through the electrodes from each pulse, record each value of the measured noisy signal and digitally process them with the selection of the useful signal by the spectral function for each measurement, followed by multiple summation of the amplitudes of the corresponding frequencies, recording in the corresponding memory modules of the obtained arrays and their conversion using the moving average method, determining the number of frequencies differing in amplitude by more than ± 30% before and after conversion using the moving average method, calculate index of functional disorders, equal to the ratio of the number of these differences to the total number of characteristic frequencies for each organ or system.

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