• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.79-89
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• 2023

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to investigate various application methods of focused ultrasound and apply them to clinical use in Korean medicine. Methods : Search was performed using the search engines of electronic databases, including PubMed, ScienceDirect, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), ScienceON, Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System (OASIS), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Data, Japan Science Technology Information Aggregator, Electronic (J-STAGE) and Citation Information by NII (CiNii), from inception to July 2023 without language limitation. Inclusion criteria were clinical studies including randomized controlled trials (RCTs), and animal experimental studies related with focused ultrasound treatments for acupoints or meridian sinews. Results : Total 17 papers, 7 for RCT, 6 for in vivo animal studies, and other experimental studies, were finally selected. Indications used in studies were shoulder pain, back pain, chronic back pain, and degenerative knee arthritis. In experimental studies, studies on animal models of hypoxic ischemic brain damage and hyperlipidemia were also conducted. As for the acupoints, LR3, LI4, and ST36 were used in clinical studies and, in animal experimental studies, GV20, KI1, and ST36 were used. As for the dose, 4 studies below 3 W/cm² and 3 studies in the range of 0.625 to 5 W/cm² in clinical studies, and all studies did not exceed 5 W/cm². In animal experimental studies, 0.5 W/cm², 2 W/cm², 7.5 WW/cm², 15 W/cm², 10~20 W/cm² were used. In all three studies describing the penetration depth during irradiation, it was less than 1 cm. Conclusions : We suggest that focused ultrasound is an appropriate treatment tool for stimulating the acupoints to transfer heat energy. Future studies with rigorous and well-designed RCTs for various diseases will be required to ascertain the focused ultrasound stimulate acupoints or meridian sinews.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.141-148
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• 2023

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to investigate on the application of the yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) lasers for acupoints irradiation. Methods : We conducted a systematic search for peer-reviewed studies published from inception to November 2023, in the following electronic databases: PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science in English, Science ON, Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System (OASIS) and Research Information Sharing Service (RISS) in Korean, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and Wanfang in Chinese, and Japan Science Technology Information Aggregator, Electronic (J-STAGE) and Citation Information by NII (CiNii) in Japanese. Inclusion criteria were original articles including clinical and experimental studies related with YAG lasers for acupoints including Ashi or meridian sinews. Results : Among the 8 selected studies, there were 7 studies on human subjects and 1 study on animals, 7 studies on Nd:YAG (1,064 nm) laser, and 1 study on Er:YAG (2,940 nm) laser. A total of 16 acupoints were used, 15 of which were in the face and 1 of which was located in the foot. In addition, there were two studies using Ashi. 4 studies looked at the effect of pain relief, 2 studies looked at safety, 1 study looked at changes in blood flow, and 1 study looked at the effect of skin care. There were no reported adverse events, and the YAG laser was confirmed to be safe and effective in pain relief, beautifying the skin, and increasing blood flow. Conclusions : We suggest that high intensity YAG lasers can be applied to laser acupuncture or laser moxibustion. YAG lasers are considered to be worth using for various clinical indications of Korean medicine because of photobiomodulation effects, analgesic action, and deep penetration depth. Further scientific research and clinical evidences should be warranted.

• The Journal of the Society of Korean Medicine Diagnostics
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.131-135
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• 2005

Background and purpose: The measurement of direct current (DC) potential on skin area of meridian has recently been adopted to explore the electrophysiological characteristics of meridian system, But there exists two problems to be explained; the entity of the DC potential to be measured and the characteristics of electrode gel interface of measurement system, It is not clear whether the DC potential reflect, at least hypothetically, the entity of meridian, and if there exist any unstable factor in the DC potential measurement system. Methods: In this study, we designed an electronic circuit model of skin and applied known DC potential sources $({\pm}10.75mV,\;0mV)$ to the electrode interface of the skin model. Results: The result showed that the measured DC potential changed according to the time, and the same phenomenon was observed when the electrode gel was replaced with an electric condenser. It is suggested that the measurement of DC potential on electrode gel interface is very difficult and produces unstable values due to the capacity effect of electrode gel. Conclusion: Further studies on the DC potential evaluation in the context of meridian study should consider and bypass this problem.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.99-111
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• 2019

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of moxibustion treatment for Cardiac arrhythmia through a systematic review. Methods: Electronic database including Cochrane library, Pubmed, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Embase, DBpia, and Korean studies Information Service System were searched by combining the keywords such as "arrhythmias", "cardiac arrhythmias", "心律失常", "moxibustion" and "艾灸". Through the searching, 5 randomized controlled trials(RCTs) were included except animal testing and cellular experiment etc. The quality of each RCTs was assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Results: We included 5RCTs involving 468 participants. Two RCTs compared moxibustion versus conventional treatment, another RCT compared moxibustion plus acupuncture versus conventional treatment, another RCT compared moxibustion plus herbal medicine verus conventional treatment, the other RCT compared moxibustion plus herbal medicine and ointment versus conventional treatment. These studies were evaluated by the efficacy rate of treatments. Studies measured outcomes in efficacy, heart rate, electrocardiogram and symptoms. Each of 5 trials statistically showed a significant differences in efficacy rate. One study reported about side effects and another study reported about complications. The overall risk of bias was unclear in 5 studies. Conclusions: The evidence suggests that moxibustion treatment may help to reduce cardiac arrhythmia, however, it is limited, low-certainty and we cannot rule out benefits or risks with this treatment. High-quality studies that report adverse effects are needed.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.409-424
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• 2019

Objectives: This research aimed to confirm the efficacy of oriental medicine in sixth cranial nerve palsy and to evaluate the quality of the studies. Methods: Using the medical subject heading (MeSH) keywords "abducens nerve palsy", "abducens nerve paralysis", "sixth nerve palsy", "herbal medicine", "Chinese medicine", "oriental medicine" and "acupuncture", we collected the research papers through an electronic database search in Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System (OASIS), National Discovery for Science Leaders (NDSL), PubMed, Cochran Library, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). Results: A total of 136 papers were searched from the databases. Among these, 15 case reports and 8 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) met our criteria. 17 articles were found on the use of acupuncture as the main intervention, 11 on the use of herbal medicine as the main intervention, and 9 on the use of electroacupuncture as the main intervention. The frequently used acupoints were LI4, EX-HN5, GB1, BL2, TE23, LR3, BL1, ST2, GB20, and ST36. All 23 studies confirmed the efficacy of Korean medicine. According to the assessment using the risk of bias, the overall quality of the RCTs was low. Conclusions: Twenty-three papers suggested that Korean medicine treatment for abducens nerve palsy was effective in many cases. Analyzing the potential bias was difficult.

• The Journal of Pediatrics of Korean Medicine
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.78-90
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• 2022

Objectives The purpose of this study is to review relevant clinical studies to investigate the effectiveness of herbal medicines for night terror in children. Methods Studies on herbal treatment for night terrors were searched and analyzed through electronic databases such as PubMed, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, CiNii, J-STAGE, Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System and Science ON. Studies included Randomized controlled trials, case series, and case reports. Results A total of 25 studies were selected and analyzed. In most studies, improvement of night terrors was observed after treatment, such as high total effectiveness. In one study, the frequency of night terrors was decreased significantly in herbal medicine group. Conclusions Based on the results of the clinical studies, we identified that herbal medicine is an effective treatment for night terror. But it is considered necessary to prove the effect and safety through additional systematic clinical studies.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.14-22
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• 2010

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate any clinical research regarding asthma published by the Korean Oriental Medical Society and its sub-societies for future rigorous clinical research. Methods: Every article relevant to asthma was initially obtained from journals in the Korean Oriental Medical Society and its sub-societies by electronic search at journal web sites or manual search. Journals were limited to those registered by the Korea Research Foundation. From initial findings, two independent reviewers selected clinical articles and these articles were further analyzed separately into predefined criteria according to prospective and retrospective studies. For prospective studies, quality assessment was also conducted. Results: From 99 articles initially obtained, 19 were finally analyzed. 14 were prospective whereas 5 were retrospective. Among the prospective articles, there were no randomized controlled trials and the non-randomized studies had no control groups, with several problems of quality regarding pre-calculated study size and unbiased assessment. None of the retrospective studies described asthma diagnosis objectively and outcome measures were either non-relevant to asthma or non-validated. Conclusions: Well-designed randomized controlled studies for asthma are needed and more rigorous non-randomized controlled studies should be conducted.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.65-69
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• 2015

Low level laser therapy (LLLT) has facilitated an improvement in acupuncture treatment. In this study, we stimulated Shaochong (HT9), Dadun (LR1), Shaohai (HT3), and Yingu (KI10) acupoints with pulsed laser diodes 532 nm [green laser] and 658 nm [red laser] in rats with induced middle cerebral artery occlusion(MCAO). The animals were divided into 6 groups: intact control; MCAO control without LLLT; LLLT with red laser at HT9·LR1 and HT3·KI10 (RR); LLLT with green laser at HT9·LR1 and HT3·KI10 (GG); LLLT with green laser at HT9·LR1 and red laser at HT3·KI10 (GR); and LLLT with red laser at HT9·LR1 and green laser at HT3·KI10 (RG). We evaluated the immunohistochemical changes in the hippocampal CA1 region, and complete blood count changes. Compared to the MCAO control group, the RG group showed a significant decrease in Bax and cytochrome c levels in the hippocampus, and a significant increase in hemoglobin level, hematocrit, total white blood cell, neutrophil, lymphocyte, monocyte, and erythrocyte counts.

• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.199-208
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• 2014

At present, the effect of oriental treatment system is proved in the west and using the data of tongue and pulse of body, the doctor can decide the patient's body state without Xray and CT data of large machines. In this paper, the patient's medical data is transmitted to the doctor and the real time decision algorithm is developed and so the doctor can decide the medical treatments. Using the mobile phone, the pulse data and bio data can be sent to the doctor and therefore the patients, who can't care in real time, can be treated in real time in the impossible medical treatment areas. Therefore in this paper, the oriental medical treatment system algorithm and artificial intelligence electrical needle simulation are processed for real time and checked and treated, so anyone can decide patient's state using mobile phone.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.55-66
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• 2021

Objectives: The aim of this scoping review was to analyze research trends about mental health of nurses working in Korean medicine (KM) hospitals in Republic of Korea. Methods: Searches were conducted using four electronic databases including Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System, Korean Studies Information Service System, Research Information Sharing Service, Korea Citation Index to collect relevant studies. The search date was March 4, 2021. All studies published up to the search date were considered. Observational studies reporting mental health outcomes of nurses working at KM Hospital were included. Results: A total of 11 cross-sectional observation studies were included. Four of them compared mental health of nurses working on KM and Western medicine (WM). Commonly reported outcomes related to mental health were job satisfaction, role conflict, and work stress. As a result of meta-analysis based on a 5-point Likert scale, the following factors were related to mental health of KM nurses: job satisfaction (2.844±0.067 points), role conflict (3.678±0.058 points), work stress (3.142±0.021 points), turnover intention (3.483±0.028 points), and burnout (3.180±0.033). Compared to WM nurses, KM nurses had significantly less work stress (p=0.000), role conflict (p=0.039), and job satisfaction (p=0.000). Conclusions: Mental health problems of nurses are known to be very common. Although improving them is an important social task, studies on mental health of KM nurses remain insufficient. Based on findings of this study, more cooperation between nurses and KM doctors should be made to improve the mental health of KM nurses, especially their job satisfaction in the future. The Korean Society of Oriental Neuropsychiatry needs to pay more attention to this topic.