For more about heart history heart history and conventional western medicine
Within the realm of Chinese Medicine modesty was also an issue. During diagnosis, women would point to where symptoms existed using a small-scale human model (like a doll) that belonging to the doctor. Chinese doctors did not listen to the heart the way western physician might. Instead they placed three fingers on either wrist successively and "listened" to the heart through touch.
The pulses read by a Chinese medicine practitioner are very different from the basic beat observed by a
conventional western doctor. There are twenty-eight pulse qualities referred to in the Chinese system with descriptive terminology: floating, choppy, slow, rapid, empty tight, wiry, etc. In addition there are nine places to be felt on each wrist. Using three fingers a practitioner will gauge three areas and then these same areas will be felt on three different depths: superficial, middle and deep.
For more in depth information regarding Chinese medicine and the pulses
Today more and more people are exploring different healing arts. Chinese medicine has been around between 4 or 5,000 years, so it not exactly new although it's emerging as a new healing option in the West. Despite the passage of time, learning to read pulses is still considered one of the most challenging parts of studying to become a Chinese medicine practitioner.
The year 2006 a tactile learning interface will be assembled to aid individuals studying the pulses. A special surface will allow the learner to feel the three pulses on each of the three levels. This special surface will respond to a computer and software that lets users set up different pulse scenarios to respond to. The advantage of this training tool over a tool that might read the pulses for the practitioner is the fact that most practitioners will always have their fingers in hand.