{"id":1229,"date":"2018-11-21T16:34:18","date_gmt":"2018-11-21T11:04:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rangakrish.com\/?p=1229"},"modified":"2026-03-03T15:37:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T10:07:52","slug":"flora-2-and-acupuncture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rangakrish.com\/index.php\/2018\/11\/21\/flora-2-and-acupuncture\/","title":{"rendered":"Flora-2 and Acupuncture"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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In my previous post<\/strong><\/em><\/a>\u00a0I gave examples of modeling homeopathy remedies using Flora-2<\/strong><\/em><\/a>. Today I want to show an example from a completely different domain namely,\u00a0Acupuncture<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/p>

Acupuncture is an ancient system of Chinese medicine and is practised in many countries. It is based on the principle that our body has several meridians<\/strong><\/em>, which are pathways for the Vital Energy (Qi)<\/strong><\/em> to flow. Any obstruction in the pathways could cause imbalance in the system, resulting in functional derangement of one or more organs that are interconnected via the meridians. By inserting fine needles at select points on the meridians, and manipulating them, it is possible to restore proper flow of Qi<\/strong><\/em> and thus restore health.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Towards the end of this article, I have included a list of good books to read for those who want to learn more about acupuncture.<\/p>

What is interesting to me is that irrespective of the domain, Flora-2<\/strong><\/em> allows us to model key abstractions elegantly. Of course, as in any high-level programming language, we have a variety of devices at our disposal, and it is for us to choose the appropriate one. One could use Frames<\/strong><\/em>, Predicates<\/strong><\/em>, Rules<\/strong><\/em>, User Defined Functions<\/strong><\/em>, and so on. I am sure, with experience, the selection and use of suitable constructs will become second nature.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Let us start with the 12 organs and relate them to the Five Elements<\/strong><\/em> and Yin<\/strong><\/em> and Yang:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>

\"Five<\/a>
Five Elements<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>

Yin and Yang have certain natural traits. The following figure shows just a few important ones.<\/p>

\"Yin<\/a>
Yin and Yang Traits<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>

The five elements namely, Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal<\/strong><\/em>, and Water<\/strong><\/em> are involved in a cycle of relationship in terms of promoting<\/strong><\/em> and controlling<\/strong><\/em> one another.<\/p>

\"Five<\/a>
Five Element Inter-relationship<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>

The above knowledge plays a role while selecting the points to stimulate. For example, if a Metal<\/strong><\/em> organ is weak, we might stimulate an associated Earth<\/strong><\/em> point since that promotes Metal<\/strong><\/em>. Likewise, if a Fire<\/strong><\/em> organ is in excess state, we might stimulate an associated Water<\/strong><\/em> point to reduce the Fire<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>

Acupuncture talks of 12 organs in the body. Let us model Lung<\/strong><\/em> (Metal, Yin) and Kidney<\/strong><\/em> (Water, Yin).<\/p>

\"Lung<\/a>
Lung and Kidney<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>

I have only captured some basic (but important) traits of these organs. There is a lot more to them. You can see that Lung<\/strong><\/em> is most active from 3 am to 5 am and is least active from 3 pm to 5 pm. One view is that if an ailment is severe between 3 am and 5 am, there is a chance that Lung<\/strong><\/em> might be affected. Again, this is a gross simplification and doesn’t do justice to the highly detailed process of case taking and diagnosis usually followed by acupuncturists.<\/p>

You can also see that the different organs have corresponding mental traits as well as a primary emotion. Likewise, each organ is related to certain key needling points that can help stimulate or reduce its activity.<\/p>

The organs have a number of points that lie along the meridians. For example, Lung<\/strong><\/em> has 11 points, Kidney<\/strong><\/em> has 21, Triple Warmer<\/strong><\/em> has 23, and so on. In my model, lu_1<\/strong><\/em> denotes Lung-1<\/strong><\/em> point, k_3<\/strong><\/em> denotes Kidney-3<\/strong><\/em> point, etc. The exact location of these points on the human anatomy is clearly specified in the books, so the acupuncturist knows where to place the needle once he decides that the point k_3, <\/strong><\/em>for example,\u00a0needs to be stimulated (or reduced). Some points are contraindicated in certain situations; for instance,\u00a0sp_6<\/strong><\/em> (Spleen-6<\/strong><\/em>) is contraindicated in pregnancy. Thus acupuncture treatment is highly individualised (similar to homeopathy).<\/p>

Here is a brief description of a few points:<\/p>

\"Some<\/a>
Some Acupuncture Points<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>

The above shows that the point lu_1<\/strong><\/em> is part of Lung<\/strong><\/em> organ, and can be considered for needling when the patient suffers from cough, wheezing, etc. Similarly, k_7 is part of Kidney<\/strong><\/em> and is a potential candidate for needling when the problem is oedema, menorrhagia, etc. Remember, these are only crude indications; many other steps are involved before deciding on the suitable set of points to needle in a session.<\/p>

Three-Needle Therapy<\/h2>

Some oriental acupuncturists follow a simplified protocol, where they use just three needles for a given ailment. This is called Sanzhen<\/strong><\/em> therapy or Three-needle<\/strong><\/em> therapy. I have tried to model this for just 3 ailments below:<\/p>

\"Sanzhen<\/a>
Sanzhen Therapy<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>

The above says that when one suffers from Bronchitis<\/strong><\/em>, perhaps with Asthma<\/strong><\/em>, it might be worth needling UrinaryBladder<\/strong><\/em> points 11, 12 and 13 together.<\/p>

I gave the above example of Sanzhen<\/strong><\/em> therapy only to show the different kinds of knowledge that we can model in Flora-2<\/strong><\/em>, and not to recommend this approach as the best.<\/p>

That is all about the model itself. Let us now load this into Flora-2<\/strong><\/em> engine and pose some queries.<\/p>

Querying the Knowledge Base<\/h2>

Question-1: Which are the points to consider for dyspnoea?<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>

\"Dyspnoea<\/a>
Dyspnoea Points<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>

Question-2: What are the Kidney points?<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>

\"Kidney<\/a>
Kidney Points<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>

Note that Kidney<\/strong><\/em> actually has 27 points, but because we have included only 2 in our KB, the system responds with those points.<\/p>

Question-3: Which are the organs that Lung promotes?<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>

\"Organs<\/a>
Organs Promoted by Lung<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>

The above is an interesting question. It shows the power of inheritance in Flora-2<\/strong><\/em>. Please take a few minutes to understand the query.<\/p>

Question-4: Which are the points to be considered for treating Migraine<\/strong><\/em> according to Three-Needle<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0therapy?<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>

\"Three-Needle<\/a>
Three-Needle Therapy<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>

We can continue like this and ask many more interesting questions. But I hope this gives an idea of how to use the KB meaningfully. As I have said many times before, the amazing expressiveness of Flora-2<\/strong><\/em> makes all this possible.<\/p>

That is all for today. Hope you enjoyed the article.\u00a0You can download the acupuncture model here<\/a>.<\/p>

Have a great day!<\/p>

Lastly, a word of warning. Acupuncture can be safely practised only by a professionally qualified acupuncturist. Do not try to insert needles on any of the points yourself. It can be extremely dangerous!<\/p>

Further Reading<\/h2>

1) The Web That Has No Weaver: Understanding Chinese Medicine<\/strong><\/em>, Ted J. Kaptchuk,\u00a0 <\/span>McGraw-Hill, 2000.<\/p>

2) Getting to Know You<\/strong><\/em>, Joseph M. Helms, Medical Acupuncture Publishers, 2007.<\/p>

3) Acupuncture Energetics: A Clinical Approach for Physicians<\/strong><\/em>, Joseph M. Helms, Thieme, 1995.<\/p>

4) A Manual of Acupuncture<\/strong><\/em>, Peter Deadman and Mazin Al-Khafaji, Journal of Chinese Medicine Publications, 2007.<\/p>

5) Three Needle Technique<\/strong><\/em>, Ganglin Yin and Di Fu, Atlantic Institute of Oriental Medicine, 2002.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In my previous post\u00a0I gave examples of modeling homeopathy remedies using Flora-2. Today I want to show an example from a completely different domain namely,\u00a0Acupuncture. Acupuncture is an ancient system of Chinese medicine and is practised in many countries. It is based on the principle that our body has several meridians, which are pathways for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[32,169,162,17],"tags":[170,164,163],"class_list":["post-1229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-acupuncture","category-flora-2","category-knowledge-representation","category-programming","tag-acupuncture","tag-flora-2","tag-knowledge-representation"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9OLnF-jP","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1109,"url":"https:\/\/www.rangakrish.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/28\/flora-2-an-expressive-knowledge-representation-system\/","url_meta":{"origin":1229,"position":0},"title":"Flora-2: An Expressive Knowledge Representation System","author":"admin","date":"October 28, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I am always on the lookout for a good Knowledge Representation (KR) system that facilitates modeling and reasoning about real-world knowledge. I have experience with\u00a0KnowledgeWorks\u00a0available in LispWorks\u00a0since I have used it in a few projects. I have also taken a cursory look at PowerLoom\u00a0and Racer. 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It has deep connections to philosophy and logic. For a nice discussion, see this article. Today, we are going to take advantage of Flora-2's module system to simulate possible worlds. Flora-2 allows us to dynamically associate any\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Flora-2"","block_context":{"text":"Flora-2","link":"https:\/\/www.rangakrish.com\/index.php\/category\/flora-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Modal Operators","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rangakrish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Modal-Operators.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rangakrish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Modal-Operators.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rangakrish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Modal-Operators.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1146,"url":"https:\/\/www.rangakrish.com\/index.php\/2018\/11\/04\/modeling-homeopathic-remedy-keynotes-in-flora-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":1229,"position":2},"title":"Modeling Homeopathic Remedy Keynotes in Flora-2","author":"admin","date":"November 4, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"In my last post, I got started with Flora-2 and showed how we can model homeopathic remedies from a therapeutics perspective. Although such a limited view of remedies can be helpful in treating acute ailments, for treating chronic diseases, a comprehensive understanding of the various remedies from the perspective of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Flora-2"","block_context":{"text":"Flora-2","link":"https:\/\/www.rangakrish.com\/index.php\/category\/flora-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Multiple Frames for Same Remedy","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rangakrish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Multiple-defn.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rangakrish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Multiple-defn.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rangakrish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Multiple-defn.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":38,"url":"https:\/\/www.rangakrish.com\/index.php\/2015\/10\/08\/experimenting-with-wearable-devices\/","url_meta":{"origin":1229,"position":3},"title":"Experimenting with Wearable Devices!","author":"admin","date":"October 8, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Adafruit\u00a0develops nice wearable devices. 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Using the Arduino IDE, I uploaded a small\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Electronics"","block_context":{"text":"Electronics","link":"https:\/\/www.rangakrish.com\/index.php\/category\/electronics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Flora Experiment","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rangakrish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/IMG_1583-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":90,"url":"https:\/\/www.rangakrish.com\/index.php\/2015\/11\/25\/book-review-homeopathy-through-the-chinese-looking-glass-homeosiniatry-revisited\/","url_meta":{"origin":1229,"position":4},"title":"Book Review – Homeopathy through the Chinese Looking Glass: Homeosiniatry Revisited","author":"admin","date":"November 25, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Title: Homeopathy through the Chinese Looking Glass: Homeosiniatry Revisited Author: Dr. Joe Rozencwajg, NMD, Publisher: Emryss Publishers Year: 2011 Though I had purchased this book a few months ago, I could not finish reading it until last week. Thanks to the heavy rains in Chennai, I got some extra spare\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Acupuncture"","block_context":{"text":"Acupuncture","link":"https:\/\/www.rangakrish.com\/index.php\/category\/acupuncture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2994,"url":"https:\/\/www.rangakrish.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/29\/wolframalpha-chatgpt-and-the-future-of-ai\/","url_meta":{"origin":1229,"position":5},"title":"WolframAlpha, ChatGPT, and the Future of AI","author":"admin","date":"January 29, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"We all know that ChatGPT has taken the world by storm. True, it is a major advance of Artificial Intelligence in the area of Natural Language Processing. Many may not know that WolframAlpha, launched in 2009, allowed natural language queries. 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