Applying discrete derivative algorithm in two dimensions in mining acupuncture and moxibustion rules on Bell´s palsy

Acupuncture and moxibustion are important components in traditional Chinese medicine. It is efficient in dealing with some diseases, esp. Bell´s palsy. In this paper, we mined the data set of literature downloaded from SinoMed on Bell´s palsy by executing the data slicing algorithm. For the first time, we calculated them in two dimensions. On one-dimension, we calculated the frequencies of acupuncture points existed in literature. On two-dimension, we calculated the networks of acupoint pairs co-existed in literature. By examining the mining results, we found the sets of acupuncture points in clinical practices. By examining these results, not only regular acupoints in the textbook of acupuncturology are mined out, but also some other acupoints widely used in the clinical practises of acupuncture.