Presentation summary

In 1984 and 1985, two articles by Vernejoul, Darras, and Albarède appeared, demonstrating that subcutaneous injections of metastable technetium-99 (99mTc) in humans migrated in centripetal paths toward the body thatcould be related to acupuncture meridians.

Later studies, starting in 1992, by Kovacs and colleagues demonstrated in studies conducted on beagle dogs that all injections with the same tracer resulted in passive diffusion. Because the labeled solution always diffused through the capillaries, however, when the 99mTc-labeled solution was injected into acupuncture points, located due to their lower electrical resistance, active migration and a long, centripetal trajectory were observed.

Objectives :
To visualize, from an acupuncture point, whether there are communication patterns in human subcutaneous tissue that do not correspond to lymphatic or vascular patterns and that could correspond to acupuncture meridians, Jing Luo, according to the nomenclature of Classical Chinese Medicine.

Methodology :
Three healthy volunteers participated in the study. Patients were injected, on different occasions, with twotypes of radiotracers in a total of 16 experiments : metastable technetium-99 with 250 microcuries of radioactivity in a volume of 0.2 ml and 99mTc-labeled albumin nanocolloid (99mTc-nanocolloid/Nanocoll®) inthe same volume. The injections were either deep (approximately 10 mm deep, seeking the Qi sensation described in acupuncture texts, at acupuncture points) or superficial (approximately 1-2 mm deep), at “non-acupuncture” control points.

Results :
Only when deep injections of 99mTc were performed at the acupuncture point described in this study, LargeIntestine 4 (Hegu), did longitudinal migration appear, reaching the elbow.

Conclusion :
From the experiments carried out, we can conclude that, at a depth of approximately 10 mm, there may be apathway that does not correspond to lymphatic or vascular channels, reaching from acupuncture point L