Electroacupuncture According to Voll (EAV) was used to monitor the effects of qigong practice on therapeutic balancing of subjects. In EAV the electrical conductance of the skin above individual acupuncture points is measured using low voltage and current. Diagnosis depends on measuring the relative electrical conductance and its time dependence. An important diagnostic criterion of degeneration of an organ is an indicator drop which occurs during the measurement when the conductance decreases from an apparent maximum value and then levels off. Two series of EAV measurements were made before and after healthy subjects practiced qigong. Measurements were made a 24 acupuncture points at the ends of the meridians of the fingers and toes of a subject and were made by the same operator and equipment. The subjects were asked to perform a qigong exercise of their choosing. In the first series, four subjects were examined by EAV before and after qigong exercise. Qigong exercise decreased the average EAV measured values of the four subjects in the range of -19 to -31%. Qigong eliminated indicator drops for three subjects and reduced the indicator drop by 80% for the fourth subject. In the second series, each of seven subjects was examined by EAV three times in a blind protocol so that the operator did not know whether a subject had practiced qigong before the second or third examination. Qigong exercise changed the average EAV measured values in the range of -17 to -35% for four subjects and 4 to 15% for three subjects. Indicator drops appeared for three subjects, and they were eliminated for two subjects and reduced by 30% for the third subject. These preliminary studies indicate that EAV can monitor the effects of qigong on changes in the therapeutic balancing of the meridian-organ system. Suggestions are made of how EAV can provide basic information about qigong and its applications.

Effect of qigong on therapeutic balancing measured by electroacupuncture according to Voll (EAV): a preliminary study