Apparatus for use by physicians in acupuncture research

摘要

Apparatus for use in research into acupuncture anesthesia or analgesia and other acupuncture therapy having means to vary the amplitude, frequency and amperage of electrical impulses applied to pairs of acupuncture needles. A frequency variable relaxation oscillator is utilized to trigger at selectively variable intervals of time a monostable multivibrator which determines the output pulse interval. The multivibrator output pulse train is shaped and amplified before being applied to a separate pulse generator and isolation transformer for each output channel to generate the output waveform. Each channel includes an attenuator which is used to vary the amplitude of the output waveform and thereby vary the output current. Each channel is also protected against power surges thereby limiting the maximum output current. The output waveform which has been found to produce the most effective results is a steep positive-going pulse having a generally rounded crown followed in 0.5 millisecond by a steep negative-going pulse of approximately the same magnitude of negative voltage and abruptly decaying exponentially to zero in about the same time interval.