The paper introduces the placebo acupuncture simulation devices commonly used in clinical trial of acupuncture therapy. These devices are composed of Streitberger, Park, Takakura, Foam and Phantom acupuncture. Because acupuncture therapy is a kind of complex intervention, there are the controversies in methodology for the acupuncture placebo control of clinical trial. Placebo acupuncture may be an effective control, with a certain of specific therapeutic effect. The blinding effect of placebo acupuncture is highly questioned, specially, the sensation of deqi is hardly imitated during acupuncture. On these grounds, in this research, the suggestions has been proposed on the selection and the setting of placebo control in clinical trial of acupuncture therapy.
Acupuncture ; Acupuncture Therapy/methods* ; Sensation

To make an induction and conclusion on related literatures on acupoint-acupuncture effects published at home and abroad in recent years. The important links and laws influencing the acupuncture effects were analyzed from the following 3 aspects: the specificity of acupoints, the stimulatory methods of acupoints, and acupuncture dose-effect relationship, thus providing possible clues for studies on acupoint-acupuncture effect, and enriching the theoretical bases for acupoint-acupuncture effect study.
Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; methods

Through in-depth excavation and analysis of the pricking blood therapy mentioned in , it is found that -'s pricking blood theory is mainly derived from . Innovative development has been carried out on the basis of "brave innovation and careful verification", and at the same time, it has been practiced and summarized clinically to form its own unique pricking blood therapy. This article systematically summarizes formation of the theory, clinical application, characteristics, and influence on later generations of pricking blood therapy in , with a view to inspiring scholars to have a more comprehensive understanding on the pricking blood therapy in , and providing new ideas and reference for clinical application.
Acupuncture Therapy ; methods ; Humans

Acupuncture Therapy ; methods ; Humans

Some results of clinical trials from the West on traditional acupuncture with modern research design have puzzled the acupuncture community. These include (1) what is the implication of acupuncture, (2) whether acupuncture point has its specificity, and 3) why practical experience in the East is quite different from research observations in the West. Three hypotheses, namely, Acupuncture Healing Effect, Pan-acupoint Phenomenon, and Hard Acupuncture and Soft Acupuncture, are proposed here to explain these sensitive issues. Further investigation with scientific approach may prove or reject these hypotheses. The resolving of these issues will shed light on the re-evaluation of traditional acupuncture and promote the maturation of modern acupuncture theory.
Acupuncture Therapy ; methods ; Humans

OBJECTIVETo resolve the contradictory in expounding of reinforcing and reducing by lifting and thrustion the needle and slow-rapid reinforcing and reducing method.

METHODSIn a certain condition,the relationship between the external force (the joint force of both the pressing on the force pressing on the needle and the force arresting the needle's moving) and the speed of needle's moving is deduced by means of kinetic energy theorem, so, when the needle is heavily thrust or lifted, the speed of its moving will be increased.

CONCLUSIONIn the reinforcing and reducing method by lifting and thrusting the needle, "heavily"and "gently" of heavily thrustiing and gently lifting or gently thrusting and heavily lifting should be considered as differences of the amplitudes of lifting and thrusting the needle; "slow-rapid" of slow-rapid reinforcing and reducing method should be considered as difference of the speeds.

Acupuncture, a therapeutic treatment defined as the insertion of needles into the body at specific points (ie, acupoints), has growing in popularity world-wide to treat various diseases effectively, especially acute and chronic pain. In parallel, interest in the physiological mechanisms underlying acupuncture analgesia, particularly the neural mechanisms have been increasing. Over the past decades, our understanding of how the central nervous system and peripheral nervous system process signals induced by acupuncture has developed rapidly by using electrophysiological methods. However, with the development of neuroscience, electrophysiology is being challenged by calcium imaging in view field, neuron population and visualization in vivo. Owing to the outstanding spatial resolution, the novel imaging approaches provide opportunities to enrich our knowledge about the neurophysiological mechanisms of acupuncture analgesia at subcellular, cellular, and circuit levels in combination with new labeling, genetic and circuit tracing techniques. Therefore, this review will introduce the principle and the method of calcium imaging applied to acupuncture research. We will also review the current findings in pain research using calcium imaging from in vitro to in vivo experiments and discuss the potential methodological considerations in studying acupuncture analgesia.
Calcium ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Acupuncture ; Acupuncture Analgesia/methods* ; Acupuncture Points ; Technology

By summarizing and exploring the theoretic connotation, key of functions and effect mechanism of acupoint compatibility, the effect of acupoint compatibility is concluded as the increase of "effect value" and the expansion of "effect domain". The increase of "effect value" is the concrete embodiment by the value of medical assessment scale, the value of objective index detection in clinical trial and the value of index detection in experiment research. The expansion of "effect domain" is the increase of effect target and the extension of effect scope. The paper interprets the scientific connotation of acupoint compatibility therapy from a new perspective, and emphasizes the innovative approaches to research while bringing forth new ideas on the research method. It is anticipated that a novel breakthrough can be achieved in the study of acupoint compatibility and the improvement of acupuncture-moxibustion efficacy.
Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy/methods* ; Moxibustion/methods* ; Acupuncture ; Research Design

The paper summarizes the valuable experience of the famous teachers of all generations in the teaching & research room of meridians and acupoints of Beijing University of CM. The shortcomings are presented when the acupoints are explained in accordance with the flowing route of meridians in classroom teaching of Science of Meridians and Acupoints. Hence, it is proposed that the acupoint names should be interpreted specially for the acupoints distributed on the same meridians or adjacent ones. It is suggested to emphasize the correlation of each acupoint with its adjacent ones from the perspective of the cultural connotation of acupoint names, and then, the differences and similarities in their clinical indications can be analyzed. Eventually, a new approach to the classroom teaching of Science of Meridians and Acupoints may be provided to guide the excavation of traditional cultural connotation and establish the cultural self-confidence and professional identity.
Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy/methods* ; Meridians

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to clarify how the stimulation of acupuncture points is achieved by needles with different surface texture during acupuncture; it also seeks to lessen injury at the insertion site and increase the therapeutic efficacy of acupuncture, by simulating the mechanical effects of various needle surface patterns on Zusanli (ST36) without changing the radius of acupuncture needles. METHODS: Five acupuncture needle models with different surface patterns, including the smooth needle, the lined needle, the ringed needle, the left-hand threaded needle and the right-hand threaded needle, and a layered model of the Zusanli acupoint were used to investigate how to reduce tissue damage and increase stimulation during acupuncture treatment. Puncturing of the skin as well as lifting-inserting and twisting needle manipulations were simulated using these models, and the degree of damage and force of stimulation caused by the acupuncture needles with different surface patterns during acupuncture were compared. RESULTS: The smooth needle and the lined needle caused the least tissue damage during insertion, while the left-hand threaded and the right-hand threaded needles caused the most damage. The ringed needle, the left-hand threaded needle and the right-hand threaded needle stimulated the acupoint tissue more during lifting-inserting manipulations, while the lined needle and the smooth needle produced less stimulation. The stimulation of the lined needle on the acupoint tissue was the largest during twisting manipulation, whereas the left-hand threaded needle and the right-hand threaded needle had smaller effects. In lifting-inserting and twisting manipulations, both the left-hand threaded needle and right-hand threaded needle provided more stimulation, but the torsion direction in which they produced better stimulation was the opposite. CONCLUSION According to the simulation results, the ringed pattern enhances stimulation best in the lifting-inserting manipulation, whereas the lined pattern enhances stimulation best in the twisting manipulation. Both the right-hand and left-hand thread patterns have certain enhancing effects in these two operations. Taking the geometric properties of the pattern into account, the left-hand thread pattern and the right-hand thread pattern have the geometric characteristics of both the lined pattern and the ringed pattern. To conclude, a pattern perpendicular to the movement direction during the acupuncture manipulation creates more stimulation. These results have significance for future needle design. Please cite this article as: Sun MZ, Wang X, Li YC, Yao W, Gu W. Mechanical effects of needle texture on acupoint tissue. J Integr Med. 2023; 21(3): 254-267.
Acupuncture Points ; Needles ; Acupuncture Therapy/methods* ; Hand