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Digital High-Voltage Electrophotographic Measures of the Fingertips of Subjects Pre- and Post-Qigong

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Evidence-Based Integrative Medicine

Abstract

Objective

The purpose of this study is to explore how performing qigong influences certain measurable aspects of the human biofield; namely, various calculated parameters of finger corona discharge patterns produced by high-voltage electrophotography.

Methods

The Gas Discharge Visualization (GDV) camera was used to assess subjects before and after performing Dayan (wild goose) qigong in workshop settings. Sixteen adults (48–80 years old), seven diagnosed with chronic disease, were studied. Subjects ranged from qigong novices to those having had 8 years of practice. Measurements were made on all ten fingertips of 16 subjects pre- and post-qigong. The patterns of light emitted from the subjects’ fingertips were digitally recorded and computer analysed. Parameters including normalised area, brightness, density, fractality form coefficient, fractality dimension, and right- and left-hand integrals were calculated and statistically compared.

Results

The uniformity of the density of the circles of light emitted from the fingertips increased post-qigong. A trend was observed for the variability in the fractal form coefficient to decrease post-qigong. Subjects with chronic health problems increased in fractal dimension post-qigong, while those without health problems showed a decrease. There was a trend for the light emitted by the fingertips of qigong-experienced subjects to decrease in brightness, whereas inexperienced subjects had increased brightness. The right integral increased post-qigong in experienced subjects, whereas the left integral increased in inexperienced subjects.

Conclusions

Qigong practice influenced some of the GDV parameters of the finger emission patterns significantly but the data supported only some of our hypotheses. The GDV technique may be a valuable tool in assessing changes in parameters of the human biofield both clinically and in investigating mechanisms of action of complementary and alternative medicine interventions.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported in part by NIH grant P20 AT00774 from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) and a grant from the Lifebridge Foundation. The contents of this paper are solely the responsibility of the authors. The authors have no conflicts of interest that are directly relevant to the contents of this study.

The authors thank Bett Lujan Martinez for her helpful input; Bett Lujan Martinez and Effie Chow, PhD for the opportunity to conduct the study; and Brian R. Faust for his assistance with the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Frontier Science, 6114 LaSalle Avenue, PMB 605, Oakland, California, 94611-2802, USA

    Beverly Rubik

  2. Union Institute and University, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

    Beverly Rubik

  3. Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA

    Audrey J. Brooks

  4. Center for Frontier Medicine in Biofield Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA

    Audrey J. Brooks

Authors
  1. Beverly Rubik
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  2. Audrey J. Brooks
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Correspondence to Beverly Rubik.

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Rubik, B., Brooks, A.J. Digital High-Voltage Electrophotographic Measures of the Fingertips of Subjects Pre- and Post-Qigong. Evid-Based-Integrative-Med 2, 245–252 (2005). https://doi.org/10.2165/01197065-200502040-00007

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.2165/01197065-200502040-00007

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