This paper focuses on the necessity and feasibility of the multidimensional integration of clinic, culture and language in the international education of acupuncture-moxibustion within a cross-cultural context. In view of the current gap between theory and practice, and the barrier of culture and language in the international education of acupuncture-moxibustion, it proposes the specific integration approaches, such as the "trinity teaching method" and "modularization of acupuncture courses", which develops the framework of international education of acupuncture-moxibustion, guided by "cultural exploration" in macroscopic view and implemented through "cultural experience", aiming to achieve a seamless integration of clinic, culture, and language. This initiative not only inherits and promotes Chinese acupuncture-moxibustion, maintains its unique position in global healthcare, but also fosters dialogue and exchange between Eastern and Western medicine. Ultimately, it enhances the international recognition of Chinese acupuncture-moxibustion. By offering fresh perspectives and methodologies, this paper paves the way for a more comprehensive and systematic approaches to international education of acupuncture-moxibustion, presenting the theoretical and practical significance in advancing the globalization of traditional Chinese medicine.
Humans ; Moxibustion ; Language ; Acupuncture/education* ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Culture ; China

Zhenjiu Bianyong Tukao (Illustration on Acupuncture and Moxibustion) is composed of the empirical prescriptions, dictated by ZHANG Xichun, the medical master of acupuncture in the Qing Dynasty, recorded and drawn in detail by SU Yuanzhen. There are 5 existing editions of this book preserved, and stored in library of Shanghai University of TCM, bookstore of Nanjing Ancient Classics, library of Heilongjiang Provincial Institute of TCM, library of Beijing University of CM, and China Academy of Chinese Medicine Sciences, respectively. Different from the official canonical book, this book provides a simplified and easily understandable contents, including 3 sections, named illustrations, prescriptions, and medicinal properties. In the book, the acupoints were illustrated specially rather than character portrayal, and the empirical treatment for painful symptoms was emphasized. The majority of prescriptions was intended for external application, often accompanied by ritualistic incantations. Medicinal herbs were systematically classified, and the effects were described clearly. This book provides the records on the experience in treatment for common diseases in rural areas, combined with the unique pictorial view of acupuncture-moxibustion prescriptions, representing the diversity of local medicine in the Qing Dynasty.
China ; Humans ; Books/history* ; Acupuncture Therapy/history* ; History, Ancient ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional/history* ; Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture/history*

OBJECTIVE: To provide the experience and demonstration for the transformation of acupuncture-moxibustion techniques standards from Chinese national standards to international standards. METHODS: Questionnaire research, literature research, semi-structured interviews and expert consultation were used. RESULTS: The safety of acupuncture-moxibustion techniques was evaluated through literature research, and based on the results of the questionnaire survey, expert interviews, and expert consultation, 11 main bodies and structure of the former Chinese national standard, Technical Benchmark of Acupuncture and Moxibustion: General Rules for Drafting, were adjusted and optimized in accordance with the requirements of international standard (including the language, normative references, purpose, scope, applicable environment, target population, work team, terms and definitions, general principles and basic requirements, structural elements and text structure, and compilation process); and the first international standard, World Federation of Acupuncture-Moxibustion Societis (WFAS) Technical Benchmark of Acupuncture and Moxibustion: General Rules for Drafting was formulated to specify the general rules for drafting. CONCLUSION The 3 key questions, "international compatibility", "technical operability" and "safety" should be solved technically on the basis of explicit international requirements. It is the core technical issue during transforming the national standards of technical benchmark of acupuncture and moxibustion into international standards.
Moxibustion/methods* ; Acupuncture Therapy/methods* ; Humans ; Translational Research, Biomedical/standards* ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; China ; Benchmarking/standards*

The Fragment of Dunhuang Ancient Tibetan Moxibustion Therapy contains rich content on fire moxibustion therapy of Tubo-period Tibetan medicine, characterized by distinctive clinical features of Tibetan acupuncture and strong regional attributes. This paper systematically reviews the relevant materials on moxibustion in the Fragment and summarizes the findings as follows: Tibetan fire moxibustion mainly uses mugwort as the material, and terms like "fine mugwort", "broad bean" and "sheep dung pellet" refer to the size of the moxa cone. The number of moxa cones used is predominantly odd numbers, usually ranging from 5 to 21. The main indications for fire moxibustion cover internal medicine, external medicine, gynecology, pediatrics, and various pain syndromes. The therapy advocates for treating acute conditions and heat syndromes with moxibustion. The manuscript also records detailed contraindications, including time-based and seasonal taboos. Moxibustion is applied to both local and distal acupoints, reflecting the therapeutic concept of treating both proximal and distal regions. Furthermore, it documents simple and practical acupoint localization methods such as surface anatomical markers, proportional bone measurement, finger measurement, and hand-span measurement. Compared with contemporaneous Chinese medical moxibustion techniques, the moxibustion methods recorded in this Fragment are rich in content and present unique Tibetan theoretical characteristics. It provides valuable data and evidence for the excavation, application, and further research of Tibetan acupuncture and moxibustion.
Moxibustion/instrumentation* ; Humans ; History, Ancient ; Medicine, Tibetan Traditional/history* ; Tibet ; Acupuncture Points

The biography, medical writings and family lineages of Qilu medical masters in the Ming and Qing dynasties were collected and collated, so as to analyze their contributions to expounding acupuncture and moxibustion theories, practicing medical ethics and morals, and academic inheritance in later generations; as well as exploring the valuable guidance to clinical practice of modern acupuncture and moxibustion. ZHAI Liang, YUE Hanzhen, HUANG Yuanyu and LIU Kui were representatives of Qilu masters in the Ming and Qing dynasties. They showed their respects on classics with high inclusion, laid stress on elaboration and innovation in theories and practice of meridians, acupoints and acupuncture technique specially. Based on family heritage and apprenticeship, not only the academic school of acupuncture-moxibustion with regional characteristics had been cultivated, but also the important foundation been laid for the perfection of acupuncture-moxibustion diagnosis and treatment system in later generations. The integration of medical ethics and medical skills showed the spirit of "the benevolence of a doctor". These masters devoted themselves to the collation and research of medical books, collected the classics of medical masters, and wrote a number of easily-learned popular works for clinical application to benefit future generations.
Moxibustion/history* ; Humans ; China ; Acupuncture/education* ; Acupuncture Therapy/history* ; History, 20th Century ; History, 19th Century

OBJECTIVE: To explore the dose-effect relationship between the number of acupuncture sessions and the efficacy for cervical vertigo (CV). METHODS: Literature regarding randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of acupuncture for CV was retrieved from CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, Web of Science, and PubMed databases from inception to June 28th, 2024. Studies were included if patients were treated solely with acupuncture and the core prescription included Baihui (GV20)-Fengchi (GB20)-neck-jiaji (EX-B2). Outcomes included the evaluation scale for cervical vertigo symptoms and function (ESCV) score and the mean blood flow velocity of vertebrobasilar arteries. The Cochrane risk of bias assessment tool 2.0 was used to evaluate study quality. Dose-effect Meta-regression analysis was performed using the robust-error Meta-regression (REMR) method in Stata 17.0 software. RESULTS: Nineteen RCTs were included with a total of 747 patients in the experimental groups. After 10 sessions of acupuncture, the ESCV score increased to 20.29 (95% CI: 16.77, 23.80), with a pre-post ESCV difference of 4.60 (95% CI: 2.59, 6.60) and an improvement rate of 0.36 (95% CI: 0.26, 0.46). After 20 sessions of acupuncture, the ESCV score increased to 21.55 (95% CI: 18.87, 24.22), with a difference of 5.42 (95% CI: 3.87, 6.97) and an improvement rate of 0.39 (95% CI: 0.31, 0.48). After 10 sessions of acupuncture, the improvement rates for left vertebral artery (LVA), right vertebral artery (RVA), and basilar artery (BA) mean blood flow velocities were 0.08 (95% CI: 0.05, 0.12), 0.09 (95% CI: 0.05, 0.12), and 0.11 (95% CI: 0.06, 0.15), respectively. After 14 sessions of acupuncture, the improvement rates reached their peaks: LVA [0.09 (95% CI: 0.06, 0.12)], RVA [0.10 (95% CI: 0.07, 0.13)], and BA [0.12 (95% CI: 0.07, 0.16)]. CONCLUSION A nonlinear dose-effect relationship existed between the number of acupuncture sessions and the efficacy for CV. Fourteen sessions were recommended as the optimal number of acupuncture treatments.
Humans ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ; Vertigo/physiopathology* ; Treatment Outcome ; Acupuncture Points ; Regression Analysis ; Male ; Female

The randomized controlled trials (RCTs) regarding acupuncture direction published from January 1st, 2013, to November 7th, 2023 were searched in China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Data Knowledge Service Platform, and VIP Chinese Journal Database. As a result, 21 RCTs were included. The problems identified included conceptual misunderstandings regarding acupuncture direction, incomplete selection strategies, confounding research factors, and inaccuracies in reporting. Based on the findings, four strategic approaches for enhancing therapeutic efficacy through acupuncture direction were summarized: aligning needle direction with the meridian pathway, directing the needle toward the lesion site, orienting the needle toward adjacent acupoints, and targeting special anatomical structures. Two additional strategies were proposed for optimizing the procedure: simplifying acupuncture operations and directing the needle toward safe anatomical sites. Recommendations were made to improve the rationality of research factor settings and the completeness of acupuncture operation reporting. Furthermore, three methods for reporting acupuncture direction were discussed: reporting the tip-pointed position, reporting the insertion angle and orientation, and reporting azimuth and polar angles, aiming to promote greater standardization and completeness in acupuncture practice and reporting.
Acupuncture Therapy/standards* ; Humans ; Acupuncture Points ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ; Meridians

This paper summarizes the historical background of the combination of acupuncture and moxibustion and digital intelligence technology, and its relevant studies in recent years. From three aspects, i.e. meridian points, acupuncture and moxibustion techniques and clinical research, the research status and landing scenarios of such combination, as well as its application value and development prospects were explored. It was found that in the development of digital intelligence of acupuncture and moxibustion, the acupuncture and moxibustion practitioners encountered the insufficient preparation in the coming career situation, the high-level research platforms were few, the cross-interdisciplinary talents were of the shortage, the quantity and quality of data were out of perfection and the study depth and breadth was limited. Focusing on these problems, and associating with the development and research status of the industry, it was attempt to give the analysis and suggestion. In the future, supported by digital intelligence technology to empower acupuncture research, the effect mechanism of acupuncture and moxibustion can be explored in view of more dimensions and deeper levels, and more objective and higher-quality medical evidence can be generated. Eventually, the development of acupuncture and moxibustion industry can be boosted, the modernization of acupuncture and moxibustion and the internationalization of TCM be accelerated.
Moxibustion/history* ; Humans ; Acupuncture Therapy/instrumentation*

OBJECTIVE: To develop an objective quantitative evaluative model of manual acupuncture manipulation (MAM) using three-dimensional motion tracking technology and machine learning, so as to provide a new approach to the study on acupuncture and moxibustion education and manipulation standardization. METHODS: A total of 120 undergraduate students in the major of acupuncture-moxibustion and tuina were recruited. The Simi Motion Ver.8.5 motion tracking system was used to collect the data of three types of MAM, balanced reinforcing and reducing by twisting, reinforcing technique by twisting and reducing technique by twisting. Eight quantitative parameters covering movement performance and stability were established. With 5 types of machine learning algorithms (logistic regression, random forest, support vector machine, K-nearest neighbor, and decision tree) adopted, the evaluative model was constructed, and the feature importance analyzed. RESULTS: In the evaluation of different types of MAM, the support vector machine presented the best for the effects of the balanced reinforcing and reducing by twisting, and the reducing by twisting (accuracy rates were both 0.88); and the logistic regression algorithm showed the optimal performance in evaluating the reinforcing by twisting (1.00 of accuracy rate). Feature importance analysis revealed that twisting velocity was the dominant parameter for evaluating the balanced reinforcing-reducing manipulation. The reinforcing and reducing of acupuncture techniques were more dependent on the left-hand twisting parameters and comprehensive performances, respectively. CONCLUSION The objective evaluative model of MAM based on three-dimensional motion tracking technology and machine learning demonstrates a reliable evaluative performance, providing a new technical approach to standardized assessment in acupuncture and moxibustion education.
Humans ; Male ; Acupuncture Therapy/instrumentation* ; Machine Learning ; Female ; Young Adult ; Adult ; Motion

OBJECTIVE: To elucidate the rules of temporal and spatial variations in distal skin potential at Hegu (LI4) under different stimulation modes by extracting nonlinear characteristic parameters from array multichannel data and adopting multivariate statistical analysis. METHODS: Seven healthy subjects were selected and the surface potential at the left Quchi (LI11) was collected using 14×9 array multichannel electrodes. Using Hegu (LI4) on the left as the stimulation point, four stimulation modes were applied, i.e. being quiescent, point pressing, moxibustion, and manual needling manipulation. Electrical signals were collected for 30 s in each mode, with a 5-min interval between operations, and a sampling frequency of 16 384 Hz. The data was denoised using ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD), and sample entropy (SaEn) features were extracted. Statistical analysis was conducted on these data using factor analysis and multivariate analysis of variance. RESULTS: The SaEn values of most electrode channels were higher under point pressing, moxibustion and manual needling manipulation compared with those under quiescent condition. Under manual needling manipulation, the SaEn value of the electrode channel reached the peak in the first time interval (1-5 s) and it was declining thereafter. Factor analysis showed that the specificity of activation channels was concentrated at the left Quchi (LI11) (loading capacity ≥0.90). Analysis of variance indicated that the significant differences were presented in average sample entropy (SaEn()) values of activation channels among different stimulation modes at Hegu (LI4) (P<0.001), but there was no statistically significant interaction effect between groups and time intervals (P>0.05). CONCLUSION Through nonlinear characteristic parameter extraction and multivariate statistical analysis, we have uncovered the complex temporal and spatial dynamical rules of distal skin potential at Hegu (LI4) under various stimulation modes and successfully identified the specific activation characteristics at Quchi (LI11).
Humans ; Moxibustion ; Acupuncture Points ; Male ; Adult ; Female ; Young Adult ; Acupuncture Therapy/instrumentation*