Mapping of acupuncture effects on cortex by photoacoustic tomography

While medical imaging is playing an increasingly important role in understanding and clarifying acupuncture theory in general, it is still challenging to systematically understand the operational mechanisms of acupuncture on the central and peripheral nerve systems using the existing acupuncture imaging tools. Here, we report an application of photoacoustic tomography (PAT) to mapping cerebral hemodynamics response to acupuncture in mice. Huantiao acupoint (GB 30) is selected as the stimulating points in this study. In vivo photoacoustic images of cerebral hemodynamics response to acupuncture are obtained in ten functional regions of a mouse brain. Real-time photoacoustic signal changes in brain cortex and dynamic changes in total hemoglobin (HbT) concentration are tracked at 532 nm. Our results suggest that PAT provides imaging basis on cerebral hemodynamic response to acupuncture, and may have great potential for understanding the operational mechanisms of acupuncture on the central nerve systems.