Progress of application of PET-CT technology in acupuncture research

Positron emission computed tomography (PET-CT), which combines functional metabolism imaging and anatomical structure imaging, represents the highest level of nuclear medicine imaging technology, and is increasingly used in the study of acupuncture effect mechanism. In the present paper, we review the recent progress of application of PET-CT technology in acupuncture clinic and experimental study, and conclude that the advantages of PET-CT technology are that it can confirm the acupuncture effect from the level of brain functional activities and structure, including the brain functional mechanism of acupoint effect specificity, acupoint compatibility effect, acupuncture Deqi effect, and bidirectional regulation effect of acupuncture, etc. At present, PET-CT technology is mainly used to explore the central mechanism of acupuncture in improving brain diseases, and is also commonly used in gastrointestinal diseases, cardiovascular diseases and gynecological diseases. PET-CT technology provides intuitive and visual detection means and a more direct and accurate data basis for acupuncture research, which can reflect the overall regulation characteristics and advantages of acupuncture with multi-targets, multi-pathways and multi-levels, and provides effective means and technical support for the in-depth study on the underlying mechanisms of acupuncture effects.