Objectives : Acupuncture manipulation, a kind of sophisticated hand movements, has been considered a fundamental skill for acupuncture practice. In this study, we aimed to develop acupuncture manipulation education system(AMES) using visual feedback of acupuncture manipulation. We also investigated whether or not acupuncture practice-naïve students could enhance their acupuncture manipulation skills after AMES training. Methods : Using AMES and motion sensor, we visualized a time-series motion template(intended motion) and participant's own motion(actual motion) manipulating an acupuncture needle. Ten students were trained with complex lifting/thrusting techniques for 8 training trials. We compared the motion pattern error of the students between the first and the last trials. Results : In our pilot experiment, half of the participants showed significantly improved manipulation skills in complex lifting/thrusting techniques after training with AMES which is developed in this study, while the other half of the participants did not show significant improvements. Conclusions : The AMES could be useful in acupuncture-manipulation training for students. Our findings suggest that novice can improve sophisticated hand movement for acupuncture manipulation with sensorimotor learning using visual feedback.
The palatal mucosa and gingiva are histologically similar, hence used as an autologous donor site for connective tissue grafts in periodontal surgery. Therefore, the aims of this study were to investigate the palatal mucosa to obtain a histological quantitative data, and to compare the topographic relationship of the greater palatal artery (GPA) with the greater palatine nerve (GPN). The 32 hemimaxillae in Korean were prepared using conventional methods of tissue processing and stained with hematoxylin-eosin. The obtained specimens were measured for the presence of the areas of entire palatal mucosa, submucosa and glandular tissue, the length from the alveolar crest to the GPA and the GPN, and the depth from the mucosal surface to each artery and nerve. The mean area of the entire palatal mucosa was 59.7, 53.2, 50.6, 57.6, and 73.2 mm 2 and that of the submucosa was 36.6, 35.3, 33.3, 41.8, and 58.0 mm 2 according to the tooth position from the canine, respectively. The glandular tissues were found in all the molars and the mean area was 15.1 (first molar) and 30.3 (second molar) mm 2 , respectively . The GPA with an average of 10.1 mm was located on the lateral side than the GPN with an average of 10.8 mm, but there was no statistically significant difference. Whereas, the depth of the GPA was 4.3 mm, which was statistical significantly deeper than that of the GPN (3.7 mm under the mucosal surface). These anatomical results provided the quantitative data on the palatal mucosa as an autologous donor site for connective tissue grafts.
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