• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.128-128
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• 2023

Objectives: This research aimed to develop a guideline for evaluating safety and performance of electronic warm-acupuncture apparatus. With the development of medical devices like electronic warm-acupuncture apparatus with improved performance, convenience and safety measures compared to traditional warm-acupuncture needling, safety and performance guideline is a necessity. Methods: By referring to existing standards and guidelines of other electronic devices for Korean medicine with heating function, guideline for safety and performance assessment of electronic warm-acupuncture apparatus was drafted Results: The guideline, presents explanation for adequate temperature and settings of the apparatus, and safety measurements providing against thermal runaway situations along with guidelines for the manual. Guideline for detailed test method for the performance of the apparatus such as accuracy of temperature increase and the timer, and safety unit was also provided. The test items and suggested test methods for the requirements of biological, electrical and electromagnetic safety were referred to Korean approval documents of ministry of Food and Drug Safety. Conclusion: We proposed the relevant items to verify performance and safety of warm-acupuncture apparatus to assure patient safety and improve the quality of currently developing devices for application in clinical field.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.199-205
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• 2006

Objectives : The present study was conducted to evaluate the analgesic effects of automatically controlled heating acupuncture(ACHA) using 2 different pain models(acute pain and neuropathic pain) and 2 different stimulation conditions (heating $41.5^{\cdot}C$ and heating $44.5^{\cdot}C$) in Sprague-Dawley rats. Methods : Tail flick latency(TFL) to a noxious radiant heat stimulus in lightly anesthetized rats was measured before and after ACHA stimulation for 5-min at the Zusanli(ST36) acupoint. For the neuropathic surgery, the right superior caudal trunk was resected at the level between S1 and S2 spinal nerves innervating the tail. Two weeks after the nerve injury, ACHA stimulation($41.5^{\cdot}C$ or $44.5^{\cdot}C$) was delivered to Zusanli(ST36) for 5 min. The behavioral signs of warm allodynia were evaluated by the tail immersion test (i.e. immersing the tail in warm $water(40^{\cdot}C)$ and measuring the latency to an abrupt tail movement) before and after the ACHA stimulation. Results : In the TFL test, ACHA stimulations under both the conditions above produced more potent analgesic effects than plain acupuncture(PA, acupuncture needle insertion only) and control(no treatment). In the tail immersion test, ACHA stimulations under all of the conditions had markedly relieved the warm allodynia signs. Conclusion : Automatically controlled heating acupul1cture produced analgesic effecs in acute and neuropathic pains.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.20-31
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• 2021

The objective was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for patients with rotator cuff diseases. There were 12 electronic databases and 3 trial registries searched up to November 30th, 2019. All randomized trials were eligible, regardless of language, date of publication, or settings. The primary outcomes were pain, shoulder function, and proportion of improved participants assessed within 12 weeks of randomization of the trial. The Cochrane risk of bias for the studies was assessed. Effects sizes were presented as a risk ratio, mean difference, or standardized mean difference with a 95% confidence intervals. Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach was adopted to rate certainty of evidence. Of the 3,686 records screened, 28 randomized trials (2,216 participants) were included in this review. The types of acupuncture included manual acupuncture, dry needling, electroacupuncture, acupotomy, warm needle acupuncture, and fire needle acupuncture. All of the studies had an unclear or high risk of bias related to more than 1 domain. Significant benefits of acupuncture in terms of pain and shoulder function were observed in all comparisons, however, the proportion of improved participants was not described in 2 comparisons. There was substantial heterogeneity among meta-analyzed trials. No serious harm was observed. For primary outcomes, the overall certainty of evidence was very low. There was very low certainty of evidence for the benefits of acupuncture for patients with rotator cuff diseases. The safety of acupuncture remains unclear due to the incompleteness of reporting. Future well-designed randomized trials with transparent reporting are required.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.75-89
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• 2009

Objectives: Warm needling combines simultaneously the effects of acupuncture and moxibustion. This study was to investigate whether warm needling could relieve acute knee arthritis induced by carrageenan in rats. Methods: To illuminate the underlying mechanisms of the warm needling-induced antinociception, weight bearing force (WBF) was observed on the acute knee arthritic rat model. Under general anesthesia, ST36, SP9, Hakjung extra point, LI4 were punctured and stimulated with 30 mg moxa ball combustion on top of the needle (${\emptyset}0.18{\times}8mm$). Results: In behavioral test, rats subsequently showed a reduced stepping force of the affected limb 3 hours after the induction of arthritis. Warm needling on the contralateral or ipsilateral ST36 failed to show antinociceptive effect on the acute knee arthritis. Warm needling on the contralateral SP9 or LI4 increased WBF values to normal level in the acute stage of the arthritis. Warm needling on the Hakjung extra-point resulted in the significant antinociceptive effects through acute stage. These effects of warm needling were suppressed by opioids receptor antagonist naltrexone (10 mg/kg, i.p.) and alpha adrenoceptor antagonist phentolamine (5 mg/kg, i.p.). Conclusion: The data suggest that warm needling-induced antinociception is differently mediated by acupoints and accomplished by activating the descending inhibitory systems including endogenous opioids and $\alpha$-adrenoceptors.

• Journal of Korean Medicine for Obesity Research
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.56-67
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• 2019

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to review clinical studies of herb medicine and acupuncture treatment on obesity in menopausal women. Methods: Key words "Obesity", "Menopause", "Herb medicine", "Acupuncture", "Moxibustion", "Catgut embedding" were searched on 9 database systems (PubMed Central, Cochrane Controlled Register of Trials, Embase, China Academic Journals, Korean Traditional Knowledge Portal, Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System, Korean Studies Information Service System, National Digital Science Library, DBpia) on April 30th 2019. Results: 1 case report and 17 clinical trials were collected in accordance with the selection and exclusion criteria. Among the 17 trials, 6 were randomized controlled trials, 1 was controlled clinical trial, and 10 were single-arm trials. The types of intervention were herb medicine, electroacupuncture, acupuncture, auricular acupuncture, warm needle acupuncture, moxibustion, laser acupuncture, and catgut embedding. The study design, study results and method of intervention were analyzed. Conclusions: 1 case report described the effectiveness of pharmacopuncture, 4 trials described the effectiveness of herbal medicine, 2 of electroacupuncture, 1 of laser acupuncture, and 2 of catgut embedding. Among the 17 trials, 2 studies showed that herbal medicine treatment was more effective than no treatment or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, and 1 study showed that electroacupuncture was more effective than hormone therapy. All of 18 selected studies reported the effectiveness of weight reduction and abdominal obesity reduction after the traditional Korean medicine treatment for obesity in menopausal women.

• The Journal of Pediatrics of Korean Medicine
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.108-118
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• 2015

Objectives The purpose of this study is to look into the methods of acupuncture for spastic cerebral palsy. Methods 27 cases of the clinical literature were selected from 43 studies about cerebral palsy and spastics. Theses literature were published between the January 2010 to September 2015 by using the China Academic Journal (CAJ) of China National Knoweldge Infrastructure (CNKI). Results Most studies mentioned the effect of acupuncture (scalp, general) or acupoint-injection, derma needle, warm acupoint. It was more effective with other herbal complex rehabilitation therapy such as acupuncture, physical therapy occupational therapy, rehabilitation, and the complex speech therapy than just the herbal therapy alone. Acupuncture of acupoint-injection has overall 86~96% of rehabilitation rate. The acupuncture was often used with the general acupuncture and scalp acupuncture. Commonly used major acupuncture points were sishencong (四神總), bohui (百會), yundongqu (運動區), and pinghengqu (平衡區), Li11, Li04, Gb39, St41. The main acupoint-injection points were fengchi (Gb21) and jiexi (St41). For the injection, brain actiator, astragalus injection, cerebroprotein hydrolysate, Vit B1, Vit B2 were commonly used. Conclusion Acupuncture and acupoint-injection have been shown as an effective treatment on spastic cerebral palsy. The acupuncture was used often with the general acupuncture and scalp acupuncture all together.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.158-168
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to review clinical studies of lumbar herniated intervertebral disc (LHIVD) treatment using acupuncture. Online database (PubMed, COCHRANE Library, EMBASE, CNKI, KISS, NDSL, KoreaMed, KMbase, OASIS, and KISTI) searches were conducted in May 2018. Studies that used acupuncture, electroacupuncture or warm needle acupuncture were included, along with participants who had lower back pain and radiating pain of their lower limbs consistent with radiological findings. Animal studies and nonclinical data were excluded. Data on treatment methods, site, time, frequency, period, and scales used were analyzed. There were 69 studies including 38 randomized controlled trials, 14 retrospective observational studies, and 17 clinical case studies. There were 51 acupoints selected for acupuncture treatment of LHIVD. The most frequently treated acupoints were BL23, BL25, BL24, and BL40. The mean treatment time, frequency, and duration were $26.06{\pm}6.70$ mins, $6.29{\pm}1.70$ times/week, and $20.57{\pm}11.04$ days, respectively, in randomized controlled trials (RCT), and $18.62{\pm}4.60$ mins, $11.58{\pm}3.99$ times/week, and $34.43{\pm}17.62$ days, respectively, in case/retrospective studies ($mean{\pm}SD$). This review collates information about acupuncture treatment methods for LHIVD.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.222-232
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• 2017

Objectives: This paper aim to report the effects of korean medical treatment including Yikwiseungyang-tang-gagambang on patients with abnormal uterine bleeding. Methods: From 2012 August to 2017 June, six outpatient with abnormal uterine bleeding came to the clinic. The patients took Yikwiseungyang-tang-gagambang and got acupuncture and warm needle therapy. We assessed the patients' bleeding period and bleeding amount. Results: All patients' abnormal uterine bleeding stopped after they took Yikwiseungyang-tang-gagambang in 2~40 days. One patient restart slight bleeding, the bleeding stopped after continual korean medical treatment. Conclusions: Korean medical treatment including Yikwiseungyang-tang-gagambang is effective on patients with abnormal uterine bleeding.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.79-84
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• 2015

The aim of this review is to investigate studies of Korean medical treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome published in Korea and the evidence of it's effects in order to suggest a better research method in the future. Four Korean web databases were searched by using key words such as 'carpal', and checked relevant Korean journals. The papers were classified into the field of study, publish date, diagnostic methods, evaluation methods and analysed the study tendency. There are 9 case studies, 4 controlled studies. The paper was published almost every year more than once. Acupucture, pharmacopuncture, acupotomy, warm needle acupuncture, taping, etc. were used as treatment tools. The two most commonly used diagnostic method for carpal tunnel syndrome are Phalen's test and Tinel's sign. The two most commonly used evaluation method are VAS(Visual Analog Scale) and subjective symptoms. Korean medical treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome was effective in all studies. Korean medical treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome was effective in all studies. So it is possible that Korean medical treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome is useful as therapeutic medicine, but there are not sufficient evidence based papers, so there should be further studies.