An In Vitro and Numerical Study of Moxibustion Therapy on Biological Tissue.

Objective: Moxibustion therapy achieves satisfactory therapeutic effects largely depending on the heat stimulation of burning moxa. Understanding the thermal characteristics of heating process is an effective way to reveal the underlying mechanisms of moxibustion therapy.

Methods: This paper performs experimental study on temperature distributions of burning moxa sticks and fresh in vitro porcine abdominal tissue using an infrared camera and thermocouples. Meanwhile, a moxibustion model incorporating moxa stick burning model and tissue heat transfer model was established with consideration of radiation propagation and water evaporation.

Results: The burning features of moxa sticks were acquired and the radiation energy generated by the burning moxa stick was absorbed and scattered in biological tissue, resulting in a large temperature gradient in the skin layer. And the water evaporation led to a mass loss and reduced skin surface temperature. The numerical model was verified by experimental results and the effects of moxibustion treatment distance and duration can be quantified based on model calculation.

Conclusion: The detailed heat transfer process of moxibustion was obtained experimentally and numerically. During moxibustion, the radiation attenuation and water evaporation have a significant influence on the energy transport in biological tissue which cannot be ignored. The treatment distance of 3 cm is the recommended value to achieve the treatment efficacy without thermal damage and pain.

Significance: This research would reveal the underlying mechanisms of moxibustion therapy. Besides, the developed models are expected to establish a guideline for moxibustion clinical treatment.