A Study of the Thermomechanical Behavior of Skin Tissue in Moxibustion Using a Mathematical Method

Abstract

Abstract

Background:

Moxibustion is an important and widely used treatment method in traditional medical science. However, there has been no research about the thermomechanical behavior of skin tissue in moxibustion so far, which limits the improvement of moxibustion and development the moxa system using high-technology methods.

Materials and Methods:

A mathematical method was used to study the thermal responses by skin tissue to scarring moxibustion. Using a standardized method to measure the temperature of a burning barley (Hordeum vulgare var.) moxa cone, the temperature, burn damage, and thermal stress distributions in the skin tissue were analyzed.

Results:

According to the ideal skin layers and properties of skin-tissue layers, as well as three groups of measured data, the distribution of temperature, damage, and stress in the skin tissue with respect to barley moxa was demonstrated. According to the results, the temperature (at 43°C) of dermis and fat are over the threshold of nociceptors, and in addition, the thermal stress of dermis and fat are over the mean mechanical threshold of the nociceptors (with a range of ∼0–0.6 MPa; 10⁶ PA)

Conclusions:

The results show that skin tissue is influenced by moxibustion not only through heating but also through thermomechanical behavior. Therefore, it is necessary to consider thermomechanical behavior when attempting to improve moxibustion and develop a moxa system using high-technology methods. Moreover, these results can be the foundation for researching moxibution according to computational bioengineering, such as the biosignal generated by moxibustion.