Abstract
Depression is a psychiatric syndrom consisting of dejected mood, psychomotor retardation, insomnia and weight loss. sometimes associated with irrational quilt feeling. And it is also similiar to Hwa-byung(火病) symptom in oriental medicine. But it is difficult to diagnose with objective method. Digital Infrared Thermographic Imaging(D.I.T.I.) is one of diagnotic method that measure the changes of skin temperature in body.Specially we checked the skin temperature on depressed patients by using D.I.T.I. and compared with Bell's palsy patients and normal persons group.The results are as follows:Average body temperature of the depressed patient group is 36.62${\cdot}$0.58$^{\circ}C$ , Bell's palsy patients group is 36.59${\cdot}$0.34$^{\circ}C$ and that of the control group is 36.71${\cdot}$0.43$^{\circ}C$ . So there is no meaningful difference. The depressed patient group has higher temperature than the Bell's palsy patients group and control group by $\delta$T〉1.0$^{\circ}C$ at the following acupuncture points in these body parts - upper and lower, left and right, anterior and posterior. When acupuncture points temperature was compared superior and inferior part of the body, depressed patient group have meaningful difference at the GV-4 (Myung-moon) and also in the Bell's palsy patients group and control group.When acupuncture points temperature was compared left and right part of the body. ddpressed patient group have no meaningful difference and also in the Bell's palsy patients group and control group.When acupuncture points temperature was compared in the anterior and posterior part of the body, depressed patient group have meaningful difference at the Gv-4(Myung-moon) and also in the bell's palsy patients group and control group.From this study. we think that D.I.T.I. could be used to diagnose objectively on the depressed patients and useful to another psychoneurogenic diagnosis in oriental medicine.
