IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - December 2017 - 22

In the past thousands of years,
the development of acupuncture
and moxibustion therapy has wave-
red a lot, experiencing a flourish-
ing period during the Ming Dynasty,
while falling during the Qing Dy -
nasty as a result of the Opium War
(1644-1860). After the founding of
the People's Republic of China, acu-
puncture and moxibustion were
popularized again and development
was promoted with the support of
the government.

Current State of Acupuncture
and Moxibustion Technology
In recent decades, acupuncture and
moxibustion medicine has greatly
progressed. First, based on the theo-
ry of traditional therapy, some micro
needle therapy has been extensively
applied in clinics, such as scalp acu-
puncture, facial acupuncture, auricu-
lar acupuncture, hand acupuncture,
wrist ankle acupuncture, eye acu-
puncture, abdominal acupuncture,
and foot acupuncture [2]. Each ther-
apy has its own specific advantage
by applying the specific technology,
which includes special point loca-
tions and point selection. The new
therapy can be applied simply or
combined with traditional methods
to enhance the therapeutic effect.
Secondly some new therapies
are now widely applied in clinics,
such as acupoint injection, elec-
troacupuncture, fire needle, acupoint
paste, acupoint catgut embedding,
Fu's subcutaneous needling, and
needle knife. Under this condition,
the shapes of the instruments of
these therapies are quite different
from the traditional filiform needles.
Despite acupuncture and moxibus-
tion medicine being such an ancient
technique, the introduction of even
newer approaches in the field dem-
onstrates its widespread acceptance
by Chinese society.
Thirdly combined with the devel-
opment of new technology, some

22

new therapies were invented such as
acupoint magnetotherapy, acupoint
ultrasonic therapy, microwave acu-
puncture, electronic heating needle,
sonic-electronic stimulator, electron
cooling-heating acupuncture, and
point therapy of infrared ray [2],
[3]. Each therapy instrument has its
own working mechanism, and each
therapy has its own indications and
precautions. The applications of the
new therapies based on the develop-
ment of technology not only enlarge
the disease scope that acupuncture
can treat, but also greatly enhance
the therapeutic effect of acupunc-
ture and moxibution. There are
some instruments that can even be
applied as health care options with-
in the family home.
It is estimated that acupuncture
and moxibustion therapies have now
been disseminated to 140 coun-
tries. Many acupuncture institutes
have been established to educate
students in many different locations
such as in the U.S.A., France, Eng-
land, Germany, Austria, Canada,
Australia, and more. Acupuncture
and moxibustion therapy are said
to prevent and treat more than 200
diseases, including aiding to quit
smoking, abstinence from alcohol
and even narcotic drugs, anti-aging,
losing weight, and cosmetic therapy.
In 1996, the number of indicated
diseases (diseases suitable for treat-
ment with good therapeutic effect)
for acupuncture and moxibustion
treatment was increased to 64. This
news was published by the World
Health Organization at a conference
held in Milan, Italy [1]. At the same
conference, it was approved by WHO
that acupuncture anesthesia could
be applied in more than 100 surgi-
cal operations, and comparatively
speaking within the 100 operations
about 20 to 30 operation effect was
very stable [3].
With the rapid technology devel-
opment related to acupuncture and
IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE

moxibustion therapy in the past
decades, new questions are arising on
how to judge the validity and secu-
rity of the new technique in the con-
text of modern medicine. It will take
time to scientifically and objectively
evaluate these newer techniques,
and the results will likely propel even
newer technologies in acupuncture
and moxibustion therapy.
The goals for this field within
China now are to strengthen mul-
tidisciplinary research on newer
technologies for acupuncture and
moxibustion therapy, create more
ideal therapies with high efficiency
and minimal risk, and invent more
stable and accurate instrumenta-
tion for acupuncture and moxibus-
tion therapy [4].

Acknowledgment
The work was supported in part
by Jia ng su Un iver sit y Na t u re
Science project under Grant No.
13KJB360007 and Jiangsu Uni-
versity Philosophy and Social Sci-
ence project under Grant No.
2013SJB6300077.

Author Information
The author is a Senior Lecturer and
Attending Doctor at the International
Education College, Nanjing Universi-
ty of Traditional Chinese Medicine,
Nanjing, China. Email: shentian025 @
aliyun.com.

References
[1] C. Xinnong, "64 acupuncture and moxi-
bustion indications approved by WHO,"
Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion.
Beijing, China: Foreign Languages Press,
2003.
[2] W. Fuxhun, Practical Acupuncture &
Moxibustion Techniques. Beijing, China:
People's Medical Publishing House, 2010.
[3] W. Qicai, New-Acupuncturiology. Bei-
jing, China: Chinese Medicine Ancient
Books Press, 2008.
[4] L. Fanrong and T. Yong, "Current condi-
tion and prospect of the development of
Chinese acupuncture and moxibustion,"
Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion
(supplement), pp. 69-71, 2008.

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DECEMBER 2017
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