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Laser Acupuncture: Past, Present and Future
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Laser Acupuncture: Past, Present and Future

A special issue of Life (ISSN 2075-1729). This special issue belongs to the section "Radiobiology and Nuclear Medicine".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (21 October 2022) | Viewed by 13087

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Jih-Huah Wu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Ming Chuan University, Taoyuan 333, Taiwan
Interests: laser acupuncture; biophotonic system design
Prof. Dr. Gerhard Litscher

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
High-Tech Acupuncture and Digital Chinese Medicine, Swiss University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 5330 Bad Zurzach, Switzerland
Interests: photobiomodulation; laser therapy; laser acupuncture; laser medicine; evidence-based complementary medicine
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue of Life is seeking the submission of papers presenting research on laser acupuncture (LA) and photoacupuncture. It is divided into three parts, namely, Past, Present and Future.

The Past part welcomes review articles about LA in any field.

The Present part welcomes animal models and clinical studies focusing on the mechanisms of LA and diseases treated with LA.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following (research articles, case reports, technical notes, comments, etc., will all be considered):

  • Diseases treated with LA;
  • Combined therapy with LA;
  • Animal models: the mechanisms of LA.

The Future part welcomes new applications of LA, including the combination of LA with chronobiology, wearable devices, or any real-time diagnosis system (for example, heart rate variability or meridian measurement system). The implementation of chronobiology into LA may enhance the therapeutic effects of LA on difficult-to-treat diseases, such as heart diseases. Wearable devices with LA or light (LED) acupuncture functions are life-changing technologies that allow easy accessibility to LA treatment. Furthermore, we welcome research on LA combined with autodiagnosis systems (which are based on traditional Chinese medicine, meridian measurement, pulsation measurement, and even face diagnosis) or other methods to evaluate organs’ condition or physiological state. With the increasing popularity and development of these systems, most of the diseases they target can be diagnosed and predicted early into their onset, leading to improved prevention measures. In addition, since LA opens up the avenue to treat many diseases at home promptly and continually, LA can reduce the patient burden on the healthcare system.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following (research articles, case reports, technical notes, review articles, comments, etc., will all be considered):

  • The evidence of chronobiology;
  • The combined treatment of LA and chronobiology;
  • New wearable devices implemented with LA or light (LED) acupuncture;
  • LA combined with autodiagnosis systems;
  • LA applied to intractable diseases.

Prof. Dr. Jih-Huah Wu
Prof. Dr. Gerhard Litscher
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Life is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • laser acupuncture
  • photoacupuncture
  • photobiomodulation and LA
  • combined therapies
  • chronobiology
  • wearable devices
  • autodiagnosis systems

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Editorial

Jump to: Research, Other

3 pages, 176 KiB  
Editorial
The Future of Laser Acupuncture—Robot-Assisted Laser Stimulation and Evaluation
by Gerhard Litscher
Life 2023, 13(1), 96; https://doi.org/10.3390/life13010096 - 29 Dec 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1741
Abstract
This brief contribution is part of a Special Issue entitled ‘Laser Acupuncture: Past, Present and Future’ and primarily deals with the future of laser acupuncture from the author’s perspective. The procedure from developing the first laser to robot-assisted laser acupuncture is briefly shown. [...] Read more.
This brief contribution is part of a Special Issue entitled ‘Laser Acupuncture: Past, Present and Future’ and primarily deals with the future of laser acupuncture from the author’s perspective. The procedure from developing the first laser to robot-assisted laser acupuncture is briefly shown. The latter has already become a reality and, in the near future, will be made accessible to a broad group of patients as a home treatment system developed by researchers from Taiwan. The new equipment is based on a smartphone with integrated artificial intelligence methods (e.g., automatic image recognition). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Laser Acupuncture: Past, Present and Future)

Research

Jump to: Editorial, Other

13 pages, 2227 KiB  
Article
A System Based on Photoplethysmography and Photobiomodulation for Autonomic Nervous System Measurement and Adjustment
by Yi-Chia Shan, Wei Fang and Jih-Huah Wu
Life 2023, 13(2), 564; https://doi.org/10.3390/life13020564 - 17 Feb 2023
Viewed by 1921
Abstract
(1) Background: The imbalance of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) is common worldwide. Many people have high tension when the sympathetic nervous system is hyperactive or low attention when the parasympathetic nervous system is hyperactive. To improve autonomic imbalance, a feasible and integrated [...] Read more.
(1) Background: The imbalance of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) is common worldwide. Many people have high tension when the sympathetic nervous system is hyperactive or low attention when the parasympathetic nervous system is hyperactive. To improve autonomic imbalance, a feasible and integrated system was proposed to measure and affect the ANS status. (2) Methods: The proposed system consists of a signal-processing module, an LED stimulation module, a photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor and an LCD display. The heart rate variability (HRV) and ANS status can be analyzed from PPG data. To confirm HRV analysis from PPG data, an electrocardiogram (ECG) device was also used to measure HRV. Additionally, photobiomodulation (PBM) was used to affect the ANS status, and two acupuncture points (Neiguan (PC6) and Shenmen (HT7)) were stimulated with different frequencies (10 Hz and 40 Hz) of PBM. (3) Results: Two subjects were tested with the developed system. HRV metrics were discussed in the time domain and frequency domain. HRV metrics have a similar change trend on PPG and ECG signals. In addition, the SDNN was increased, and the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS: HF (%)) was enhanced with a 10 Hz pulse rate stimulation at the Neiguan acupoint (PC6). Furthermore, the SDNN was increased, and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS: LF (%)) was enhanced with a 40 Hz pulse rate stimulation at the Shenmen (HT7) acupoint. (4) Conclusion: A prototype to measure and affect the ANS was proposed, and the functions were feasible. The test results show that stimulating the Neiguan (PC6) acupoint can inhibit the SNS. In contrast, stimulating the Shenmen (HT7) acupoint can activate the SNS. However, more experiments must be conducted to confirm the effect by choosing different pulse rates, dosages and acupoints. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Laser Acupuncture: Past, Present and Future)
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13 pages, 998 KiB  
Article
The Dosage Effect of Laser Acupuncture at PC6 (Neiguan) on Heart Rate Variability: A Pilot Study
by Yi-Chuan Chang, Chun-Ming Chen, Ing-Shiow Lay, Yu-Chen Lee and Cheng-Hao Tu
Life 2022, 12(12), 1951; https://doi.org/10.3390/life12121951 - 22 Nov 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2453
Abstract
Laser acupuncture (LA) has been more applicated in the clinical practice with good responses, but the dosage and parameter settings are still inconsistent with the arguments. This study is focused on the effect of LA on heart rate variability (HRV) with different energy [...] Read more.
Laser acupuncture (LA) has been more applicated in the clinical practice with good responses, but the dosage and parameter settings are still inconsistent with the arguments. This study is focused on the effect of LA on heart rate variability (HRV) with different energy density (ED). Based on the Arndt–Schulz law, we hypothesized that the effective range should fall within 0.01 to 10 J/cm2 of ED, and settings above 10 J/cm2 would perform opposite or inhibitory results. We recruited healthy adults in both sexes as subjects and choose bilateral PC6 (Neiguan) as the intervention points to observe the HRV indexes changes by an external wrist autonomic nerve system (ANS) watch on the left forearm. The data from the ANS watch, including heart rate, blood pressure, and ANS activity indexes, such as low frequency (LF), high frequency (HF), LF%, HF%, LF/HF ratio, and so on, were analyzed by the one-way ANOVA method to test the possible effect. In this study, every subject received all three different EDs of LA in a randomized order. After analyzing the data of 20 subjects, the index of HF% was upward and LF/HF ratio was downward when the ED was 7.96 J/cm2. Otherwise, the strongest ED 23.87 J/cm2 performed the opposite reaction. Appropriately, LA intervention could affect the ANS activities, with the tendency to increase the ratio of parasympathetic and decrease the ratio of sympathetic nerve system activities with statistically significant results, and different ED interventions are consistent with Arndt–Schulz law with opposite performance below and above 10 J/cm2. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Laser Acupuncture: Past, Present and Future)
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Other

Jump to: Editorial, Research

10 pages, 1792 KiB  
Case Report
Reflex Auriculo-Cardiac (RAC) Induced by Auricular Laser and Needle Acupuncture: New Case Results Using a Smartphone
by Ying-Ling Chen, Kun-Chan Lan, Mark C. Hou, He-Hsi Tsai and Gerhard Litscher
Life 2023, 13(3), 853; https://doi.org/10.3390/life13030853 - 22 Mar 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2297
Abstract
The reflex auriculo-cardiac (RAC), dynamic pulse reaction (Nogier reflex), or vascular autonomic signal was proposed by Nogier. It refers to the pulse changes that can occur in the radial artery immediately after auricular acupuncture is performed. RAC is helpful for the clinical practice [...] Read more.
The reflex auriculo-cardiac (RAC), dynamic pulse reaction (Nogier reflex), or vascular autonomic signal was proposed by Nogier. It refers to the pulse changes that can occur in the radial artery immediately after auricular acupuncture is performed. RAC is helpful for the clinical practice of auricular acupuncture, but there is a lack of objective verification methods. Photoplethysmography (PPG) has been used to objectively calculate radial artery blood flow. This study used PPG via a smartphone to measure RAC induced by auricular acupuncture. Thirty subjects without major diseases were recruited to receive traditional needle and laser acupuncture. The Shen Men ear point and control points were stimulated for 20 s. PPG was continuously measured during the acupuncture. The PPG data were tested for differences with a paired t-test. The results showed that there were no statistical differences in the frequency and amplitude of PPG obtained before and after acupuncture, either with a traditional needle or laser acupuncture. However, interestingly, it was found that one patient with insomnia, one patient with viral respiratory symptoms, and two menstruating females exhibited changes in PPG within five seconds of needle placement. We hypothesized that RAC might be induced by auricular acupuncture and could be quantified by PPG, even among subjects suffering from mild diseases; however, auricular acupuncture might not induce a measurable RAC in totally healthy subjects. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Laser Acupuncture: Past, Present and Future)
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8 pages, 3065 KiB  
Case Report
Management of Combined Therapy (Ceritinib, A. cinnamomea, G. lucidum, and Photobiomodulation) in Advanced Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer: A Case Report
by Chuan-Tsung Su and Jih-Huah Wu
Life 2022, 12(6), 862; https://doi.org/10.3390/life12060862 - 9 Jun 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2711
Abstract
The 5-year survival rate of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is still low (<21%) despite recent improvements. Since conventional therapies have a lot of side effects, combined therapy is strongly recommended. Here, we report a patient with advanced NSCLC who received combined therapy, including [...] Read more.
The 5-year survival rate of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is still low (<21%) despite recent improvements. Since conventional therapies have a lot of side effects, combined therapy is strongly recommended. Here, we report a patient with advanced NSCLC who received combined therapy, including ceritinib, photobiomodulation (PBM), ACGL (Antrodia cinnamomea (A. cinnamomea), and Ganoderma lucidum (G. lucidum)). Based on combined therapy, suitable doses of A. cinnamomea, G. lucidum, and PBM are important for tumor inhibition. This case report presents clinical evidence on the efficacy of combined therapy in advanced NSCLC patients, including computed tomography (CT) scan, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), and blood tests. The effective inhibition of human lung adenocarcinoma cells is demonstrated. Our case highlights important considerations for PBM and ACGL applications in NSCLC patients, the side effects of ceritinib, and long-term health maintenance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Laser Acupuncture: Past, Present and Future)
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