Aperson suffering from high blood pressure and Parkinson's disease, carrying a prescription in hand, has come to a hospital affiliated with Chinese Medical College, and registered with the acupuncture clinic. His main purpose is not to consult a physician, but to see whether the prescription he has been given will really be of any help to him.

Using an instrument which has a range from zero to 100, the nurse discovered that the patient has a reading higher than that of the average healthy person. After the medication was placed on the instrument, it showed that the patient's reading had returned close to normal, thus showing that the medicine was effective.

This instrument in Chinese Medical College is helping doctors find the most effective medication for their patients. It was first imported seven years ago, and then improved upon by the Veterans General Hospital. It has only been in the past two years that hospitals have begun to use it more frequently, yet it still remains unfamiliar to most people.

This instrument, with a history of 33 years, is named after its inventor, Voll, a West German physician. The principle behind the instrument is based on ten representative points on a person's two hands and feet. The reaction of these points represents the state of twenty systems or organs. When needles charged with an electric current are placed on these points, the instrument will give a reading. A healthy person will give a reading of fifty. The greater the deviation from fifty, the more serious the condition.

Chung Chieh, head of the Acupuncture Department at Veterans General Hospital says that E.A.V. (electro-acupuncture according to Voll) is based on the traditional Chinese concept of acupuncture.

Voll designed this instrument in 1955, as he was suffering from an illness. In order to control his bladder cancer, he used the Japanese concept of Ryodoraku, which is actually the same as the twelve meridian points on the skin, to measure reactions to electric current.

Before becoming a physician, Voll was an electrical engineer. He designed an instrument on his own to measure electric light. After many tests he noted that normal, healthy organs maintained a steady reading, otherwise they gave a higher or lower reading. This was the birth of the E.A.V.

In addition to testing the lungs, the large intestine, circulation, glandular excretion, the heart, the small intestine, the spleen, the liver, the stomach, the gall bladder, the kidneys, and the bladder, the E.A.V. instrument can also be applied to testing the lymph, nerves, allergy, organ degeneration, joints, fiber, skin, and fats.

What does the instrument actually measure, and what do the numbers represent? Chung Chieh says it's a type of "bio-energy."

Seven years ago, the Acupuncture Department at Veterans General Hospital began research on this bio-energy, in cooperation with Ts'ui Chiu, a professor at National Yang Ming Medical College.

Ts'ui Chiu explains, "Man is a magnetic field within the universal magnetic field. His actions must match those of the universal magnetic field. For example, when a person runs, he must learn how much effort to exert. This is a type of bio-energy."

To understand a person's physical condition, the Chinese medical doctor uses the method of taking the pulse, while E. A. U. adopts the method of measuring his or her reactions to electric current says Ts'ui Chiu.

Although there are many schools of thought, Chung Chieh says, "Veterans General Hospital will not quit." He also noted, "Modern western medicine relies heavily upon chernistry and various instruments for treatment, which are in themselves very limited. It's difficult for modern western medicine to understand the phenomenon of cholelithiasis with pain symptoms in the shoulder blade, or myocardial infarction with pain symptoms in the arm. So we must improve upon physical diagnosis and treatment. Bioenergy is one of them. Everyone believes only that which they can see or touch. In fact, there are many more things which exist that we are still unaware of."

[Picture Caption]

Traditional medicine is bringing many new discoveries to modern medicine. (photo from Sinorama files)

Dr. Wei-san Huang, chairman of the Institute Chinese Medicine at China Medical College, measures a patient's bioenergy.

After diagnosis the doctor writes out a prescription. If necessary, the instrument can be used to see whether the prescription is suitable for the patient.

This is the instrument at Veterans General Hospital connected to a computer. Acupuncture points appear on the screen.

Dr. Wei-san Huang, chairman of the Institute Chinese Medicine at China Medical College, measures a patient's bioenergy.

After diagnosis the doctor writes out a prescription. If necessary, the instrument can be used to see whether the prescription is suitable for the patient.

This is the instrument at Veterans General Hospital connected to a computer. Acupuncture points appear on the screen.