• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.151-158
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• 2022

Changes in symptoms and dysfunction related to meniscus tears following the use of Korean medicine for ≥ 4 days were studied. The medical charts of 53 cases of diagnosed meniscus tears (magnetic resonance imaging) with an admission Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) score ≥ 4, between 2017 and 2022 were retrospectively reviewed. Treatments included acupuncture, pharmacopuncture, herbal treatment, Chuna therapy, and physiotherapy. The NRS, Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index, and European Quality of Life 5 Dimensions were performed at admission and discharge. There were 42 females and 11 males in this study. Patients were more likely to be in their 60s (38.18%), have an unknown etiology (81.13%), and have complex tears (50.94%). After receiving a combination of alternative Korean medicine during hospitalization, the mean NRS score improved from 6.82 ± 1.19 to 3.66 ± 1.83 (p < 0.001), the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index score improved from 46.47 ± 20.99 to 37.98 ± 19.23 (p < 0.001), and the mean European Quality of Life Five Dimensions score improved from 0.61 ± 0.18 to 0.68 ± 0.14 (p < 0.001) after treatment. These results suggest that Korean medicine treatment of meniscus tears alleviated pain and improved physical function.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.29-46
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• 2004

Objectives and Methods : This study was performed to investigate the effect of electro -acupuncture at four gates(bilateral LR3 and LI4) on brain activity in normal subjects using fMRI. Results and Conclusions : 1. fMRI signal increase by electro-acupuncture at Lt. LR3 was observed in Rt. Middle frontal gyrus in group average as well as more than half of the subjects. 2. fMRI signal decreases by electro-acupuncture at Lt. LR3 were observed in Rt. Superior frontal gyrus, Rt. Middle temporal gyrus, Rt. Cingulate gyrus in group average as well as more than half of the subjects. 3. fMRI signal increases by electro-acupuncture at Lt. LI4 were observed in Lt. Superior frontal gyrus, Lt. Middle frontal gyrus, Lt. Inf. Semi-Lunar Lobule(cerebellum), Rt. Middle frontal gyrus, Rt. Cingulate gyrus in group average as well as more than half of the subjects. 4. fMRI signal decreases by electro-acupuncture at Lt. LI4 were observed in Lt. Middle frontal gyrus, Lt. Inferior frontal gyrus, Lt. Precentral gyrus and Rt. Middle frontal gyrus, Rt. Middle temporal gyrus, Rt. Precuneus, Rt. Inferior frontal gyrus, Rt. Postcentral gyrus in group average as well as more than half of the subjects. 5. fMRI signal increase by electro-acupuncture at Lt. LR3 and Lt. LI4 in group average as well as more than half of the subjects was not observed. 6. fMRI signal decreases by electro-acupuncture at Lt. LR3 and Lt. LI4 were observed in Lt. culmen(cerebellum), Lt. Cingulate gyrus와 Rt. Middle frontal gyrus, Rt. Cingulate gyrus, Rt. Inferior frontal gyrus in group average as well as more than half of the subjects. 7. fMRI signal increases by electro-acupuncture at four gates (bilateral LR3 and LI4) were observed in Lt. Middle temporal gyrus and Lt. Postcentral gyrus in group average as well as more than half of the subjects. 8. fMRI signal decrease by electro-acupuncture at four gates (bilateral LR3 and LI4) were observed in Lt. Middle frontal gyrus, Lt. Precentral gyrus, Lt. Inferior frontal gyrus, Lt. Middle temporal gyrus, Lt. Frontal sub-gyral and Rt. Tuber(cerebellum) in group average as well as more than half of the subjects.

• Journal of Magnetics
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.259-262
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• 2011

Compared to acupuncture, the pulsed magnetic field (PMF) stimulus is a useful tool for treatment of many physical conditions and health maintenance due to its advantages as a noninvasive and nontoxic medical treatment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of PMF stimulus direction at PC9 on the alpha activity of electroencephalogram (EEG) and vascular aging calculated from photoplethysmograph (PPG). It can be concluded that the direction of PMF stimulus affects the increase of alpha activity of EEG and PPG, indicating the vascular stiffness and the sclerosis level of blood vessels weakly relevant to the direction of PMF stimulus.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Medical Physics Conference
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• 2003.09a
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• pp.75-75
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• 2003

Purpose: To investigate whether or not acupuncture of GB34 produces a significant response of the modulation of somatomotor areas by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study. Methods: The acupoint, GB34, located in the back of the knee, is known to be effective in recovering motor function after stroke. Using 3T MRI scanner, functional MR imaging of the whole brain was performed in 12 normal healthy subjects during two stimulation paradigms; acupuncture manipulation on GB 34 and sham points. This study investigates the activation of the motor cortex elicited by a soft and an intensified stimulation of GB 34. Three different paradigms were carried out to detect any possible modulation of the Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent (BOLD) response in the somatomortor area to motor stimulation through acupuncture. Results: Group analysis from seven individuals showed that bilateral sensorimotor areas (BA 3,4,6 and 7) showed stimulation related BOLD signal contrast of approximately 6% whereas very few areas were activated when sham stimulation is given. Conclusions: The present study shows that acupuncture fMRI study can be safely conducted in 3T MRI environment, and acupuncture stimulation in GB34 modulates the cortical activities of the soma- to motor area in human. The present findings may shed light on the CNS mechanism of motor function by acupuncture and form a basis for future investigations of motor modulation circuits in the stroke patients. Acknowledgement: This study was supported by a grant of the Mid and Long Term Nuclear RID Plan Program, Ministry of Science and Technology, Republic of Korea.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.135-145
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• 2006

Objectives and Methods : Using the 2-channel DROS SQUID (Korea Research Institute of Standards of Science, 1999), the present study was carried out to record changes elicited in the auditory cortex by acupuncture stimulus on right TE5 (Waiguan) and GB43 (Xiaxi). Needle-retention stimulation of TE5 and GB43 were done for acquiring the brain activities changed by acupuncture. Acupoint TE5 and GB43 is known to be effective for the treatment of ear-related disease, such as deafness and tinnitus, and to be suspected to be related to the auditory cortex. Auditory evoked magnetic fields were recorded hem the left hemisphere of five subjects, in response to contralateral ear stimulation by irregularly spaced 170 msec long 1kHz tone busts (Korea Research Institute of Standards of Science) Results and Conclusions : The result as follows. The latency and amplitude of SQUID MEG responses at the human auditory cortex changed by needle-retention condition on TE5 were 4msec and 9.2 fT, respectively, which were slower and smaller than those of no-acupuncture condition. The latency and amplitude of SQUID MEG responses at the human auditory cortex changed by needle-retention condition on GB43 were 7.2 msec and 1.6 fT, respectively, which were slower and larger than those of no-acupuncture condition. The latency of SQUID MEG responses at the human auditory cortex changed by needle-retention condition on GB43 condition was slower than that of TE5 acupuncture condition.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.89-103
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• 2006

Objectives: Recently, the effect of acupuncture has been approved not only in the East but also in the West, so the interest on acupuncture was greatly improved. Especially, functional magnetic resonance imaging(fMRI) was embossed as the study tool for the mechanism of acupuncture noninvasively and many studies on the mechanism of acupuncture using fMRI were carried out. We archived the fMRI study on the brain activity induced by manual acupuncture at BL62(申脈). Methods: The study was the acupuncture at BL62(申脈) and we acquired 9 fMRI results from 6 persons$(age\;20{\sim}30,\;4\;male\;and\;2\;female)$. These studies employed The block design for mapping brain activity and acupuncture was perfomed at BL62(申脈) on the left foot. Results: The brain related motor function was cerebellum, basal ganglia and cerebral cortex and thalamus connected these elements. In the result of this study, the regions of significant activation in the cerebellum was centered on the spinocerebellum in the anterior lobe, so we presumed that this result showed the input of stimulation by the acupuncture on BL62(申脈). But basal ganglia and cerebral cortex showed the regions of significant activation in the left larger than the right and regions of the cerebral cortex was the motor and sensory cortex. Such a result explained that acupuncture at BL62(申脈) could have influence the motor function and acupuncture at left BL62(申脈) could affect the right side through the activation of the left basal ganglia and cerebral cortex. Conclusions: In the theory of crossing needling at collaterals(繆刺論), it the pathogenic factor invaded in the Yang Heel channel(陽?脈) that was one of the eight Extra meridians(奇經八脈), we recognized the disease of the collateral channel and used contralateral BL62(申脈) for treatment of the Yang Heel channel(陽?脈). Moreover the result of this study could bear the construction that acupuncture at the left BL62(申脈) treats the contralateral lesion and this construction is related to the theory of crossing needling at collaterals(繆刺論).

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.7.1-7.1
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• 2009

The use of Duplex stainless steel as a thermo-implant categorizes into two clinical applications: hyperthermia and thermal ablation or destruction. The goal of hyperthermia is to destroy the heat-sensitive abnormal cells and minimize normal cell death maintaining heat between $42^{\circ}C$ and $46^{\circ}C$. Thermal ablation takes place when the local tissue temperature increases greater than $46^{\circ}C$. This elevated temperature denatures protein irreversibly resulting cellular death. The author introduced several thermo-implants such as thermo-rod, thermo-stent, thermo-coil and thermoacupuncture-needle. Those thermo-implants are made of duplex stainless steel which can produce regulated heat by itself within an induction magnetic field. Thermal ablation characteristics of the thermo-rod on tumor hyperthermia depend on configurations of the thermo-rods and the magnitude of the induction magnetic strength. The exothermic properties of the thermo-implants can be characterized using the calorimetric test and the heat affected zone(HAZ) analyses in vitro. Thermal radiation studies using thermo-coils and thermo-stents show the capability of the occlusion of animal blood vessels and inhibiting the proliferation of the abnormal smooth muscle cell growth and inflammatory cell reactions maintaining the heat between $42^{\circ}C$ and $46^{\circ}C$ minimizing a normal cell death in the study on external iliac artery of the New Zealand White (NZW) rabbit. Thermal stimulation study using thermo-acupuncture needles suggests the potential applications of the automated acupunctural therapies.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.1032-1038
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• 2005

Using the 2-channel DROS SQUID (Korea Research Institute of Standards of Science, 1999), the present study was carried out to record changes elicited in the auditory cortex by acupuncture stimulus (right GB43, Xiaxi). Needle-retention and manual needle-twitching stimulation of GB43 and SP1 were done for acquiring the brain activities changed by acupuncture. Acupoint GB43 is known to be effective for the treatment of ear-related disease, such as deafness and tinnitus, and to be suspected to be related to the auditory cortex. Auditory evoked magnetic fields were recorded from the left hemisphere of five or four subjects, in response to contralateral ear stimulation by irregularly spaced 170msec long 1kHz tone busts (Korea Research Institute of Standards of Science). The result as follows The latency and amplitude of SQUID MEG responses at the human auditory cortex changed by needle-retention condition on GB43 were 7.2msec and 1.617, respectively, which were slower and larger than those of no-acupuncture condition. The amplitude of SQUID MEG responses at the human auditory cortex changed by needle-twitching condition on GB43 was 13.517, which was larger than that of no-acupuncture condition. The change in SP1 following GB43 needle-twitching condition were not observed in latency. The amplitude changed by needle-twitching condition on SP1 was 12.2fT, which was not significant. These results suggested that auditory cortex can be affected by acupuncture stimulus, though not specific or significant because of small number of subjects.

• Journal of Magnetics
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.133-137
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• 2012

We investigated the effects of pulsed magnetic fields (PMF) stimulus on electroencephalogram (EEG) alpha activity and heart rate variability (HRV) from electrocardiogram (ECG) measurements with various stimulus durations at acupoint PC9. The alpha activity in the EEG and the ratio of low frequency power and high frequency power (LHR) in the HRV, a reflection of sympathovagal activity, were increased and decreased, respectively, after PMF stimulus of 3 min. Our spectral analysis quantitatively proved that the changes in the EEG alpha activity were consistent with an autonomic function in the ECG. These findings suggest that appropriate PMF stimulus results in the same effect as that of acupuncture applied to the acupoint PC9, which is closely related to the parasympathetic activity of the autonomic nervous system.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.49-58
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• 2020

Background: This study aimed to investigate the clinical effectiveness of treatment of Korean medicine on superior labrum anterior to posterior (SLAP) lesions. Methods: A total of 55 inpatients diagnosed with SLAP lesions by magnetic resonance imaging, were investigated from May 1^st, 2014 to May 31^st, 2019 at Haeundae Jaseng Hospital of Korean Medicine. The patients were sorted by gender, age, causing factor, illness duration, period of hospitalization, SLAP lesion type, complications, and treatments. Treatments included acupuncture, pharmacopuncture, Chuna therapy, herbal treatment, and physiotherapy. After treatment, the Numeric Rating Scale, Shoulder Pain and Disability Index, and European Quality of Life 5-Dimension questionnaire were used to evaluate treatment effect. Results: There were more males than females in this study (1:0.83). Patients were more likely to be in their 50s (38.18%), have an unknown etiology (70.91%), and be in the subacute disease stage (41.82%). According to the SLAP lesion type, most of the inpatients had Type 2 lesions (69.09%). For inpatients diagnosed with SLAP lesions, the mean shoulder numeric rating scale score decreased from 5.55 ± 0.90, to 4.07 ± 1.18 (p < 0.001), the mean Shoulder Pain and Disability Index score decreased from 50.35 ± 18.36, to 39.90 ± 19.34 (p < 0.001), and the mean European quality of life 5-dimension index increased from 0.70 ± 0.16, to 0.75 ± 0.13 (p < 0.01) after treatment. Conclusion: Treatment of Korean medicine effectively decreased pain and increased the quality of life of the patients with SLAP lesions in this study.