Detecting Auricular Points in OFP by a Novel APD ( APD-OFP)

Brief Summary: This is a pilot diagnostic accuracy study conducted to assess the diagnostic ability of a novel APD for auricular point detection among patients with orofacial pain, as compared with an already commercialized device.

Detailed Description: The present study is a pilot diagnostic accuracy study conducted to assess the diagnostic ability of a novel APD for auricular point detection among patients with orofacial pain (OFP), as compared with an already commercialized device. This study will examine if the novel APD is more reliable than the traditional devices currently available in the market. Moreover, this study will also use the APD device to test the cutaneous electrical impedance of the ear and further assess whether the orofacial auricular points is with the lowest electrical impedance in the OFP population. This pilot study will enroll 12 OFP patients from the Department of Anesthesiology, Queen Mary Hospital, the University of Hong Kong. 12 healthy subjects will be recruited as control from the university community. Auricular acupoint detection will be accomplished with the new device and a control device. The electrical impedance will be detected and recorded. Patient's condition will also be evaluated by the Penn Facial Pain Scale-Revised (2018). The specificity and sensitivity of the auricular point detection by the APD device will be calculated. Cohen's kappa coefficient (κ) will be used to test the inter-methods reliability, test-retest reliability, and inter-tester reliability. Moreover, the Pearson Correlation Coefficient will be used to test the correlation between the electrical impedance of the auricular point of the orofacial area and the Penn Facial Pain Scale score.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria

When pain attacks, the average unilateral orofacial pain severity >=5 point measured by a 10-point VAS scale;
Patient with trigeminal neuralgia can be diagnosed according to Trigeminal neuralgia: New classification and diagnostic grading for practice and research (Neurology, 2016);
Other kinds of orofacial pain can be diagnosed based on the patient's symptoms;
Provide written inform consent;
Free of any other diagnosed psychological conditions;

Exclusion Criteria

with any other diseases such as cardiovascular, renal, neurological, digestive, hepatic, respiratory disease;
Pregnancy or lactation;
Participation in a clinical study that may interfere with participation in this study;
History of or current tobacco, alcohol use;
Anything that would place the individual at increased risk or preclude the individual's full compliance with or completion of the study;
Unable to provide written informed consent due to any reason;

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Orofacial pain group	Auricular point detector	Patients in this group will receive auricular point detection which is accomplished by the novel auricular point detector device. There is no addition to the patient's routine care.
Control group	Auricular point detector	This group includes healthy subject, for whom no treatment will be performed. Only auricular point detection by the auricular point detector will be conducted.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
cohen's kappa coefficient	baseline	The Cohen's kappa coefficient is a statistical test used to validate the inter-method reliability, test-retest reliability and inter-observer reliability of the device in detecting OFP-related auricular point.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS)	baseline	The VAS is a common instrument used to measure pain intensity. The scale ranges from 0 to 10, where 0 indicates no pain and 10 indicates worst pain possible.
the Penn Facial Pain Scale-Revised (Penn-FPS-R)	baseline	The Penn-FPS-R is a new 12-item Health-Related Quality of Life outcome measure with content validity that can be used to assess and monitor the impact of Trigeminal Neuralgia and facial pain treatment interventions in both clinical practice and research. This scale uses the 0-10 numeric rating scale (NRS) to quantify the pain intensity and its impact on life quality, where 0 indicates no pain/impact and 10 indicates worst pain/impact. The sum of the rated NRS score will be calculated.
self-developed questionnaire on patient's attitude towards complementary therapies for pain management	baseline	This is a self-developed questionnaire which includes 10 items aiming to survey patient's attitude towards the use of complementary therapies for pain management. This questionnaire only includes descriptive answers to be choose. The percentage for each choice will calculated.
The diagnostic specificity of the device	baseline	The specificity test is a test to validate the ability of a diagnosis to tell the 'non-disease' among those without the disease.
The diagnostic sensitivity of the device	baseline	The sensitivity test is a test to validate the ability of a diagnosis to tell the 'disease' among those with the disease.