Quantitative Comparison of Acupuncture Needle Force Generation According to Diameter

Abstract

Background: Various factors can alter the efficacy of acupuncture treatment, such as the location of points, manipulations, depth of insertion, needle retention time, and needle type. In this study, the effect of needle diameter on the efficacy of acupuncture treatment was quantitatively evaluated. Methods: Five acupuncture needles of different diameters used in clinical practice were compared. Force on the porcine tissue phantom was measured using a sensor. Lifting-thrusting and twisting-rotating movements were performed using a needle insertion-measurement system. After repeated measurements, force magnitude was calculated and compared. Following this, we correlated needle diameter and force magnitude during lifting-thrusting and twisting-rotating movements. Results: The force magnitude was significantly altered between needle diameters during lifting-thrusting movements, as shown by a significant positive correlation between needle diameter and force magnitude. In contrast, there was no difference in force magnitude with different needle diameters during twisting-rotating movements. Conclusion: Needle diameter can significantly affect stimuli and force magnitude dependent upon the type of manipulation. Research into the effect of other needle type characteristics and stimulation method is necessary to fully elucidate the role of acupuncture needle choice in treatment efficacy.

Biodegradable microneedle acupuncture has equivalent efficacy to traditional intradermal acupuncture for dry eye disease: A pilot single-blinded, randomized controlled trial

“…Including the results of this study, the therapeutic effects of acupuncture on DED have been supported by numerous previous studies. [10][11][12][13]23,25,26,[34][35][36][37] However, the detailed mechanisms that can explain how acupuncture improves DED are still unclear. [43] Until now, the proposed mechanisms of acupuncture for DED include promoting tear secretion, providing analgesic effects for neuropathic pain, suppressing inflammatory responses, improving ocular blood flow, and regulating the nervous and immune systems.…”

“…[9] Acupuncture is the most commonly used Korean medical therapy for DED in clinical practice. Prior studies have also consistently demonstrated the efficacy of acupuncture for DED, [10][11][12][13] but these have been mainly published as case reports.…”

Manual acupuncture for neuromusculoskeletal disorders: The selection of stimulation parameters and corresponding effects

“…Therefore, if the operation time is the same, the stimulation amount of lifting-thrusting may be greater than that of twirling ( Wang, 2011 ). Moreover, the stimulation amount of lifting-thrusting tends to increase with increasing needle diameter, which is a feature that twirling does not have ( Lee Y. et al, 2018 ). However, due to the increased collagen winding or rupture caused by twirling, more cellular responses and release of active substances may be mediated by this process ( Zhang et al, 2022 ).…”

Trends in Acupuncture Training Research: Focus on Practical Phantom Models

“…Liu et al [33] used a training method of identifying needle manipulation through a back-propagation neural network with acupuncture force data output from a high-precision pressure sensor. There were 4 articles which entailed phantom-based quantitative measurements, and the phantoms used varied (Table 4) [42][43][44][45]. In 3 Korean articles [42][43][44], needle force with respect to amplitude and frequency was measured with a 6-axis force sensor using the lifting-thrusting technique, while needle force with respect to rotation angle and frequency was measured using the twirling technique.…”

“…There were 4 articles which entailed phantom-based quantitative measurements, and the phantoms used varied (Table 4) [42][43][44][45]. In 3 Korean articles [42][43][44], needle force with respect to amplitude and frequency was measured with a 6-axis force sensor using the lifting-thrusting technique, while needle force with respect to rotation angle and frequency was measured using the twirling technique. The variables affecting needle force were needle diameter, amplitude, and frequency for the lifting-thrusting technique, and angle for the twirling technique.…”