The Journal of the Society of Korean Medicine Diagnostics (대한한의진단학회지)

The Society of Korean Mecicine Diagnostics (대한한의진단학회)
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Fluorescence of Tongue Coat - Mechanism of Tongue Coat Fluorescence and Suggestions on Development of Digital Tongue Diagnosis System -

설태의 형광특성 - 설태 형광현상의 발현기전 소개 및 제안 -

  • Kim, Ji-Hye (Depart. of Biofunctional Medicine & Diagnostics, College of Oriental Medicine, Sangji University) ;
  • Nam, Dong-Hyun (Depart. of Biofunctional Medicine & Diagnostics, College of Oriental Medicine, Sangji University)
  • 김지혜 (상지대학교 한의과대학 진단.생기능의학교실) ;
  • 남동현 (상지대학교 한의과대학 진단.생기능의학교실)
  • Received : 2011.03.16
  • Accepted : 2011.04.11
  • Published : 2011.04.30
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Abstract

In traditional Korean medicine, inspection of the tongue is an important method of making medical diagnoses and determining prognosis. We surveyed the fluorescence characteristics of the tongue coat in the ultraviolet light. The tongue coat comprises micro-organisms, blood metabolites, leukocytes from periodontal pockets, large amounts of desquamated epithelial cells released from the oral mucosa and different nutrients. In the ultraviolet light tissues of the oral cavity generally emit weak red or green fluorescence, which is not easily seen by the human eye, but is readily detected. This fluorescence has been proved to be due to the production of porphyrins by oral micro-organisms. While the composition of motile micro-organisms on the dorsum of the tongue is not constant, variations also occur persistingly in the fluorescence characteristics of the tongue coat. But because live bacteria contain a variety of intracellular biomolecules that have specific excitation and emission wavelength spectra characterizing their intrinsic fluorescence, the tongue coat emits fluorescence. the tongue itself, on the other hand, emits very weak or not fluorescence. In conclusion, we suggests that the uncoated tongue area be eliminated from the coated tongue area with the difference between the fluorescence characteristics of the tongue and that of the tongue coat.

Keywords

References

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