Estimation of the diagnostic accuracy of organ electrodermal diagnostics

Objective. To estimate the diagnostic accuracy and the scope of utilisation of a new bio-electronic method of organ diagnostics. Design. Double-blind comparative study of the diagnostic results obtained using organ electrodermal diagnostics (OED), with clinical diagnosis as the criterion standard. Setting. Department of Surgery, Helen Joseph Hospital, Johannesburg. Patients. Two hundred pre-selected inpatients of mean age 38 years (standard deviation 9 years) with suspected pathology of one (or more) of the following organs: oesophagus, stomach, gallbladder, pancreas, colon, kidneys, urinary bladder and prostate. In total, 714 of the abovementioned internal organs were selected for statistical consideration. Main outcome measures. The degree of rectification of the measuring current once the resistance ‘breakthrough effect' has been induced in the skin, as well as the difference in impedance measured at organ projection areas (OPAs) (skin zones corresponding to particular internal organs). Results. In total, 630 true OED results were obtained from the 714 subjects considered, with a detection rate of 88.2% (95% confidence interval (CI): 85.6 - 90.5%). Established OED sensitivity was 89.5% (CI: 85.2 - 92.8%) and OED specificity equalled 87.5% (CI: 84.0 - 90.4%). The predictive value for positive OED results was 81.7% (CI: 76.9 - 85.9%) and for negative OED results 93.0% (CI 90.1 - 95.2%). Healthy organs usually produced the OED result ‘healthy' or ‘within normal limits', while subacute pathology displayed ‘subcute' and acute pathology ‘acute'. The OED results were not affected by either the type or the aetiology of disease, i.e. OED estimated the actual extent of pathological process activity within particular organs but did not directly explain the cause of pathology. Conclusions. So-called OPAs do exist on the skin surface. Pathology of a particular organ causes a related OPA to rectify electrical currents once the resistance ‘breakthrough effect' has been induced in the skin. Pathology of an internal organ also increases the impedance of the corresponding OPA. The degree of rectification or difference in impedance is proportional to the extent of the pathological process within this organ. OED which utilises the abovementioned electrical phenomena of the skin, is a reliable bio-electronic method of non-invasive medical diagnostics, with high rates of sensitivity, specificity and predictive values. OED may be used to detect diseased organs and estimate the extent of pathological process activity. S Afr Med J 2004; 94: 547-551

Neurophysiological foundations of organ electrodermal diagnostics, acupuncture, TENS and other reflexive therapies: review

The nervous system is the primary computing system of the human body. The sensory nervous system detects any damage done to the body from both outside and inside and sends the information, at the earliest stage of pathology, to the central nervous system (CNS), which controls potent self-defense mechanisms. The CNS cannot simultaneously process all available information, originating internally and externally, due to limited capacity. The necessity to eliminate information which is less important at the time, created the specific converging structure of the sensory nervous system. Due to this structure, signals sent from internal organs to the CNS can also reach certain skin areas influencing their electrical characteristics. In this way organ electrodermal diagnostics (OED) may get access to this 'first hand' source of diagnostic information. The CNS gives higher priority to signals resulting from external stimuli (skin) than to messages coming from internal organs: information coming from sensory organs is generally more important for the organism's self-defense and survival. This is why signals generated by internal organs can be blocked by even mild stimulation of the relevant skin areas. 'Convergence modulation theory' is introduced, which proposes that acupuncture and other reflexive therapies function by controlling the flow of information in the nervous system and thereby reprogramming the powerful self-defense systems according to actual needs. Southern African Journal of Analgesia and Anaesthetics Vol10(3) 2004: 21-2

Measurement Reliability for Acupoint Activity Determined with the Prognos Ohmmeter

The concepts of meridians and acupoints are critical to traditional Chinese medicine but are met with skepticism in Western medicine. Empirical validation of these concepts is in its beginning stages and still hampered by problems with measurement. A promising avenue and foundation for validity testing is the demonstration that acupoint activity can be reliably measured via determination of electrical resistance at well-defined body surface points. In this article, efforts are described to maximize measurement reliability; we tested a variety of protocols to determine which method of data aggregation is associated with maximal reliability. Twenty-one healthy individuals were subjected to 5 repeated measurement cycles to test the predicted increase in reliability with increasing number of aggregated measurements. Reliability, defined as internal consistency, was indeed highest for 5 measurements (mean alpha = .88). Even the aggregate of only three measures was quite reliable (alpha = .84). Reliability for measuring acupoints on the left side of the body was roughly .05 higher than on the right side. Consistent with previous literature, we conclude that with repeated measures the reliability of electrical resistance measurements at acupoints is high and that a strong foundation for validation research is now laid