• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.35 no.11B
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• pp.1651-1658
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• 2010

As indicators of life quality have recently shown great improvement, early stage medical examination and health care patterns are usually preformed before diseases occur. Thus, hand acupuncture, as an alternative medicine to reflect these movements of preventative work and health care, is widely used these days. Therefore, in this paper, we measured the change of voice signals elements associated with heart by stimulating the heart A16 acupuncture point, and then we investigated possible improvements of cardiac function through analysis of cross-comparisons between measurements of cardiac changes. With this in mind, we collected voice samples associated with heart before and after stimulating the corresponding A16 acupuncture point, and we performed an experiment by applying the second formant bandwidth and Jitter. As result, stimulating the A16 acupuncture point results to lowering the second formant bandwidth and Jitter. The result has proven that using voice signal processing technology can help improvement of heart function.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.86-94
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• 2007

Objective : Kuesu point is a newly discovered point, it is located in 3-cun from the centre of sacrum laterally, paralleled to the 4th foramen on the sacrum. This controlled trial was to evaluate the superior effect of Kuesu point on back pain which radiated to lower extremities. Methods : Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) and Single Blind in patient was designed. Patients (n=31) were randomized to two groups, Kuesu-point acupuncture group (Group A, n=16) and non Kuesu point acupuncture group (Group B, n=15). Group A was acupunctured on B25 (大腸兪), B26 (關元兪) and B60 (崑崙) with Kuesu point. Group B was acupunctured on the same points without Kuesu point. The clinical subjects were female patients. Beside acupuncture, the other therapies were excluded. Clinical period was three weeks total. Each group was treated 4-5 times per week for 3 weeks. The outcome measurements were The Estimation Index of Backache (quality of life), Pain Rating Scale (pain intensity) and other physical examinations (ROM, SLR, etc.). Results : 31 patients (Group A: n=16, Group B: n=15) were Randomized, 6 of them dropped out. Eventually 25 patients (Group A: n=15, Group B: n=10) were included in the analysis. Group A acupunctured on Kuesu point scored more significant Estimation Index of Backache and lower PRS (Pain Rating Scale) than Group B acupunctured without Kuesu point (p=0.003/2). It turned out that the group acupunctured on Kuesu point show meaningful high improvement index. And other examination's results showed that the treatment effects of Group A are twice as better as Group B. Conclusion : These results suggest that Kuesu point acupuncture was more effective on lower back pain and improved the life quality of patients, being compared with non Kuesu point acupuncture.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.16 no.1 s.29
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• pp.36-50
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• 1995

Acupuncture is so effective and simple to use in the pain and dysfunction syndrome of TMD. Acupuncture treatment is a point-specific. So, the selection of acupuncture point is very important. According to the traditional meridian theory, we select the points; local points around TMJ and mastication muscles(ST6, ST7, GB20, GB21) and remote point(LI4). And if there is another pain, one or two other points are added. Both neural and humoral mechanism play an important role in acupuncture analgesia. The discovery of spinal gate mechanisms shows somatic stimulation can induce pain inhibition. Humoral mechanism has been established from the discovery of opioid receptors and endogenous opioids. Acupuncture induces a relaxation in the patient, which further decreases the muscle tension.

• Journal of Korean Medical classics
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.123-147
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• 2012

Objective : By establishing the Five Viscera Source Point Acupuncture as the targeted acupuncture treatment for stadardization, as the first step, this study was conducted to sort the indications of each acupuncture remedies, which can be referred as one of the most important factors in acupuncture treatment, based on Yeoungchu. Method : This study selected only the contents related to indications of five viscera, by extracting the relevant sentences from Yeoungchu using the search words Liver(Liver Meridian, First Yin), Heart(Pericardium, Heart Meridian, Second Yin), Spleen(Spleen meridian, Third Yin), Lung(Lung Meridian, Third Yin), and Kidney(Kidney Meridian, Second Yin). Result & Conclusion : 1. We selected and extracted text related to liver disease from Chapter 16, heart (pericardium) disease from Chapter 16, spleen disease from Chapter 19, lung disease from Chapter 17, and finally kidney disease from Chapter 17 of Yeoungchu. 2. The basic theory of applying Five Viscera Source Point Acupuncture to five viscera diseases is first assorting the diseases according to its state (i.e. deficiency or excess), then draining the source point of the appropriate viscus in case of excess, or supplementing the source point of the appropriate viscus in case of deficiency. 3. For the correct application of Five Viscera Source Point Acupuncture, the classification of the disease, not only the judgement on its state, must be presented systematically and synthetically in combination with Four Examinations. Therefore the follow-up studies needs to be conducted.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.115-120
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• 2024

Background: Migraine is a common disabling headache that affects every aspect of a person's life. Auricular acupuncture is a cost-effective treatment modality for the management of painful neurological conditions. Previous studies have shown the beneficial effects of a combination of ear points in the management of migraines. However, no studies have evaluated the efficacy of a single auricular point (i.e., sympathetic point) in migraine. Thus, this study evaluated the efficacy of sympathetic points on pain intensity and depression levels in patients with migraine. Methods: In this randomized controlled study, 100 patients with migraine aged 18-45 years were randomly divided into either an auricular acupuncture group (AAG) (n = 50) or a placebo control group (PCG) (n = 50). The AAG underwent needling at the sympathetic point (an auricular acupuncture point), whereas the PCG underwent needling at a non-acupuncture point for 20 minutes daily for 7 days. Assessments were performed before and after the intervention using a 6-item headache impact test (HIT-6) and Beck depression inventory (BDI) scale. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 16. Results: In within-group analysis, the AAG showed a significant reduction in HIT-6 and BDI, whereas the PCG showed a significant increase in HIT-6 and a significant reduction in BDI. In between-groups analyses, HIT-6 reduced significantly in the AAG compared with that in the PCG, whereas BDI reduced significantly in the PCG compared with that in the AAG. Conclusion: In patients with migraine, needling at the sympathetic point produces a greater reduction in the pain intensity level and lesser reduction in the depression level compared to needling at a non-acupuncture point.

• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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• 2003.07c
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• pp.2903-2906
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• 2003

In this paper, we developed a multichannel acupuncture point balance measurement system that measures skin resistances at various acupuncture points to evaluate the balancing state of the meridian. The system consists of 16 channel resistance-voltage converter, signal processing part for signal amplification and filtering, A/D conversion part, micro-controller part, and data processing part. Compared to the previously developed 1 channel or 4 channel systems, it is found that the 16 channel system can measure the skin resistances of 16 acupuncture points, simultaneously, providing various clinical information such as balance and variation of the resistance value.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.14 no.7
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• pp.3319-3325
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• 2013

In this paper, hand acupuncture used as a way of life medicine in everyday life, the influence of human organ will be investigated by applying IT techniques. For this, hand acupuncture is based on priority of the most important organ in the human body to target the cardiac associated with cardiac reflex point A16 acupuncture point before and after for 5 min to stimulation of facial images were collected and applied to the Lab color system associated with the cardiac, color value of cheonjung and lips region were measured for comparison and analysis. Finally, by measuring the change in bio-image signals A16 acupuncture point stimulation effects on cardiac function were performed to investigate the effectiveness of acupuncture. Also, statistical significance tests from the experimental results were performed whether the experimental results is valid or not.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.85-98
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• 2007

Objectives : Standardization and clear description of locating acupuncture points guarantees reproducibility and credibility of the results in animal studies of acupuncture points and meridians. In this study, we aimed at analyzing the acupoint description of the previous experimental studies and suggesting guidelines for related journals. Methods : We searched animal studies where acupuncture points were used in Journal of Korean Acupuncture & Moxibustion Society and Journal of Meridian & Acupoint with a limitation of period, from 2002 to 2006. Data on experimental animals, acupuncture points and their descriptions were extracted and put in a predefined form. They were classified as one of the 4 classes; A) descriptions of the acupuncture points present, B) no description of the acupuncture points and only reference provided, C) neither description of the acupuncture points nor reference provided, or D) acupuncture point detector used. Two authors independently extracted and classified the data and the disagreements were resolved by discussion. Experts were invited to rate acupuncture point description validity on a numeric rating scale in the 11-item questionnaire. Results : Two hundred and five studies were identified and classified as follows; A) 32.2% (n=66), B) 7.8% (n=16), C) 51.2% (n=105), and D) 8.8% (n=18). Experts ratings were significantly lower for class C (mean${\pm}$SD, 2.14${\pm}$1.35, 95% CI [1.90, 2.39], P = 0.004 compared with class B, P ${\leq}$ 0.001 compared with class A or C) and no difference was found between classes A, B, and D. Conclusions : Reporting of acupuncture points in experimental animals is poor and validity and reliability of the result from such reporting is hampered. We suggest that journal editors and experts provide guidelines for reporting animal acupuncture points and adopt them into guide for authors for related journals.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.81-87
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• 2013

Objectives : Accumulation point is a useful acupoint for acute pain diseases. Among the eight extra meridians, only four (Yin Heel, Yang Heel, Yin Link, Yang Link vessel) have accumulation point and the others (Governor, Conception, Thoroughfare, Belt Vessel) do not. However, there is no explanation why these four meridians do not have it. So, the authors researched the literature to look for the reasons. Methods : We investigated 10 books and 1 paper about the 'accumulation point of extra meridians' using several search engines and researched reason why the other 4 meridian do not have it. Results : All of the 16 accumulation points are located on the 4 limbs. The four limbs have more Yang energy than the trunk. The governor, conception, thoroughfare, and belt vessels do not flow in the limbs. It seems that there is no acupoint located on deep gap enough to be the accumulation point among the four vessels. When it comes to the functions of these vessels, they are little related with the acute pain that is the main target of the accumulation point. Conclusions : From the results of this study, it seems to be reasonable that the four vessels do not have accumulation point.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.23-36
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• 2012

Objectives : This study was conducted to investigate effective treatment point selection method using oppressive pain in acupoints as elementary attempt for standard methodology of clinical acupuncture studies. Methods : Twenty seven subjects with hypertension or within prehypertension category - systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP) over 120/80mmHg - were divided into two groups, oppressive pain point treatment group and oppressive painless point treatment group. In oppressive pain point treatment group, single point acupuncture (SPA) was conducted for 16 sessions during 8 weeks on most oppressive painful point among 6 selected acupuncture points used in previous trials and clinic. As a SPA intervention, 15 minutes with deqi sensation- elevating manipulation was conducted on the treatment acupoint. Same process was conducted in oppressive painless point treatment group on most oppressive painless point with subject blinding. Results : Significant reduction was observed in both systolic and diastolic BP after short time intervention (15.5/8.8 mmHg, 10.7/7.1 mmHg, P<0.05, respectively at 1 week) and maintained for 8 weeks intervention period in all groups (12.8/8.0 mmHg, 19.4/12.6 mmHg, P<0.05, respectively). No significant difference of BP change between oppressive pain point treatment group (N=10) and oppressive painless point treatment group (N=9) was observed during 8 weeks study period. Conclusions : SPA treatment as used in this pilot study was effective for lowering BP in mild hypertensive population, but oppressive pain in acupoint had no effect on treatment. This present result suggests the possibility of SPA for hypertension treatment regardless of oppressive pain.