Student Number : 9402348T -
MSc(Med) dissertation -
School of Medicine -
Faculty of Health Sciences / My previous investigations have indicated that a connection exists between the state of
health of specific internal organs and the electrical characteristics of related, although
sometimes remote, skin areas. These skin areas are referred to as organ projection areas
(OPA) and include acupuncture points. Pathology of a particular organ causes a related
OPA to rectify electrical currents, once the resistance ‘breakthrough effect’ has been
induced in the skin. The ‘breakthrough effect’ is a rapid reversible decrease in skin
resistance which takes place under certain electrical stimulatory conditions. Only after it
occurs, the skin resistance measured by means of a positively polarised point electrode is
significantly higher for diseased organs’ projection areas, when compared to the
resistance for the same but negatively polarised measuring electrode (rectification / diode
phenomenon). For healthy organs’ projection areas, this phenomenon is not observed.
The pathology of an internal organ also increases the impedance of the corresponding
OPA. The location of the skin zone, where a high degree of rectification and increased
impedance is observed, indicates which particular organ is diseased. The degree of
rectification or difference in impedance indicates the extent of the pathological process within the organ. These findings created the basis for a new non-invasive diagnostic
method – organ electrodermal diagnostics (OED).
Although the electrical phenomena of the skin described above have been confirmed
clinically, the resistance and impedance values involved have not been characterized
statistically. Therefore, in order to determine the accuracy of OED, optimization of OED
parameters was undertaken. Evaluation of electrical characteristics revealed that for AC
measurements, low frequency and high amplitude were most suitable. Therefore 250Hz
was selected as the measurement frequency, since lower frequencies produced
uncomfortable sensations under the measuring electrode. Measuring current amplitude
was chosen to be 25uA (peak) since it was observed to be below the perception threshold.
For DC measurements, the highest amplitude of the measurement stimulus that does not
cause uncomfortable sensations was the most suitable. Since the skin resistance is very
low after the ‘breakthrough effect’, 25uA was chosen as optimal.
According to these parameters the OED device ‘Diagnotronics’ was built. The device
specifies the actual condition of the organ related to the investigated skin area as
'HEALTHY', 'WITHIN NORMAL LIMITS', ‘SUBACUTE’ and ‘ACUTE’. A
special display graded according to percentage of the disease intensity, makes it possible
to specify accurately the activity of organ pathology. The locations of skin areas
corresponding to the examined organs and final results are displayed on a screen.
A double-blind comparative study of OED results and clinical diagnoses, as a criterion
standard, was performed on a group of 200 inpatients at Helen Joseph Hospital's surgical
department. The study was restricted to the following organs: oesophagus, stomach, gall bladder, pancreas, colon, kidneys, urinary bladder and prostate. These organs are
relatively easy to access clinically, and their pathologies represent a variety of
aetiological and pathogenetic factors e.g. infections, inflammation, neoplasms,
immunological and metabolic disorders.
In total 630 true OED results were obtained from the 714 subjects considered:
detection rate 88.2% (85,6-90,5%). Established OED sensitivity was 89.5% (85,2-92,8%)
and OED specificity equaled 87.5% (84,0-90,4%). The predictive value for positive OED
results was 81.7% (76,9-85,9%) and for negative OED results 93.0% (90,1-95,2%).
There were no significant differences in the results obtained from various internal
organs. Healthy organs usually display the OED result 'HEALTHY' or 'WITHIN
NORMAL LIMITS’, while subacute pathology displays 'SUBACUTE' and acute
pathology as an 'ACUTE'. The OED results were affected neither by the type nor the
aetiology of disease i.e. OED estimates the actual extent of the pathological process
activity within a particular organ but does not explain the direct cause of the pathology.
The OED results were not influenced by a patient's muscle tension, emotional state,
skin humidity, environmental temperature or by procedure duration. The pressure of the
measuring electrode had a limited influence (up to 5%) on the OED results and did not
affect the final diagnoses. No side-effects of the OED examinations were observed.
The study confirmed the existence of OPA on the skin surface and proved that OED is
a reliable bioelectronic method of non-invasive medical diagnostic testing, with high
rates of sensitivity, specificity and predictive values. OED may detect diseased organs
and estimate the activity of the pathological process.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/1989 |
| Date | 14 February 2007 |
| Creators | Szopinski, Jan Zbigniew |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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