Experimental Study on the Relationship between Tongue Temperature and the Lingual Circulatory System

To study the relationship between tongue temperature and the lingual circulatory system, the blood stasis and blood deficiency syndrome of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndromes were researched by making animal model and vascular cast experiment. The influence of blood stasis and blood deficiency syndrome on tongue temperature and the lingual circulatory system were studied and analyzed. The experimental results indicated that the lingual circulatory system of blood stasis syndrome and that of blood deficiency syndrome were distinctly different in blood flow rate, vascular diameters and the density of small vessel. These differences in circulatory system could induce a change on lingual temperature. This result proves that the tongue temperature has relations with the change of lingual circulatory system.