Application of Thermal Science to Tongue Inspection in Traditional Chinese Medicine

The study on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)by the technology and method of thermal science is a new cut in point in interdisciplinary science, and its purpose is to study the tongue inspection in TCM from the view of the bio heat transfer theory. In this paper human tongues were studied with the infrared thermal imaging technology. And the characteristic relationship between temperature distribution and age, tongue color as well as infrared thermal tongue image concerning the characteristic of viscera was analyzed by the experimental data,which confirms that the change in temperature distribution in different positions of the tongue is related to the diseases of different internal organs of the body. From a series of invasive experiments in animals, the blood perfusion rate was measured with the equipment of CBI 8000 Doppler Blood Flow Meter and MP 100 Physiologic Research System for the first time and the characteristic relationship curve between the temperature on the surface of the tongue and the blood perfusion rate was obtained. From the experiments the temperature on the surface of the tongue reflects objectively the tongue color which is influenced by the blood perfusion rate. This will help to develop some new cognition in the theory of TCM.

动物舌横断面温度场的实验研究与数值计算

结合中医舌诊机理对舌体进行了生物传热研究。直接测定了犬舌血液灌注等参数 ,研究了血液灌注率、动脉血液温度、血管截面积和位置分布对舌横断面温度场的影响 ,并用有限元法计算出舌体不同横断面的二维温度场。结果表明 ,在不同血液灌注率下 ,由于血管扩张或收缩 ,舌体内各血管截面积及位置分布不同 ,断面温度场主要受动脉血管大小和位置的影响。得出的结果有助于分析舌体的生物传热特性。用此研究方法可计算出不同血液灌注率以及考虑到静脉血管影响时的任一舌断面温度场 ,探明舌表面温度场和横断面温度场之间的关系 ,为深入研究舌体生物传热机理和三维温度场的计算提供依据。