초록
Pulse diagnosis is a central diagnosis method used in traditional Oriental medicine. To standardize and modernize the pulse diagnosis method, it is essential to develop an instrument-based reinterpretation of the clinically used pulse images in terms of the physical quantities such as the strength, period, width, length, and depth of the pulse. As a step towards such standardization, we conducted a clinical study on the floating/sinking pulses based on an automated palpation instrument (3D-MAC, Daeyo Medi, Korea) for 213 female subjects in their 20s and 174 female subjects in their 60s. The floating/sinking pulses are the two representative pulse images depending only on the depth of the pulse, and can be conveniently scaled by the coefficient of the floating-sinking pulse ($C_{fs}{\in}(0,1)$), which represents how strong one should apply the hold-down pressure to obtain the maximal pulse strength. As a result, primarily we found that it tends to appear more floating-like pulse ($C_{fs}{\rightarrow}0$) at Gwan and more sinking-like pulse ($C_{fs}{\rightarrow}1$) at Cheek, at both age groups and at both wrists. This result is consistent with a previous study on the geometrical structure of the blood vessel by an ultrasonograph. Second, the pulse tends to be more sinking-like in the age group of 60s than 20s. Finally, the pulses at the right palpation positions were found to be more sinking-like than the left, at both age groups.
