Abstract
Laser acupuncture has undergone tremendous scientific advancement in recent years, of course, due to the new technological advances that have become available. Repeatedly, I have been asked at scientific congresses whether it is also possible to use different stimulation techniques with laser stimulation in the context of acupuncture, as is the case with manual-needle acupuncture. Many practitioners still see this as a limitation of laser acupuncture, although this is certainly no longer true. I would also like to shed light on some aspects on this topic in this Guest Editorial.
In 2012, I had an intensive, very friendly discussion with Han Ji-Sheng, MD, PhD, a professor at Peking University (the top university) in Beijing, China. Professor Han was the founder of modern electroacupuncture (EA). We were at the International Conference of Physiological Sciences, November 1–4, 2012, Suzhou, China, in the beautiful city of Suzhou near Shanghai. After my keynote lecture on laser acupuncture at that time, he asked me: “Why don't you use similar frequencies for stimulation in laser acupuncture as I have researched in EA [such as] 2 Hz or 40Hz or 100Hz?” This question, and the scientific studies carried out in numerous follow-up investigations led us directly to the first possibility of a scientifically proven frequency-modulated laser stimulation in acupuncture. 1
To summarize, frequencies are also very important in laser acupuncture; but, from a scientific point of view, they have not been—and still are not—sufficiently investigated. 2 In this context, it should be mentioned that the Om frequency (136.1 Hz) used in meditation, when carried out in transcranial laser stimulation via a helmet, could lead to comparatively high levels of sedation, which the research team I was on was able to prove recently (Fig. 1). 3
A photobiomodulation helmet that emits ∼15 W of light at an 810-nm wavelength.
The next—and brand new—development in the field of laser acupuncture stimulation is the method in which the focal point of the laser is changed. 4 Some of the results of studies in which I participated should be mentioned briefly here.
In 2013, together with Professor Xinnong Cheng, MD, PhD, and colleagues, we published an article entitled “The Influence of Different Acupuncture Manipulations on Skin temperature of an Acupoint.” 5 The article described the effects of needle acupuncture lifting and thrusting on changes in skin temperature. We found that the range of temperature increase caused by lifting–thrusting stimulation is higher than that of the twisting–rotating method. 5
Similar studies on laser acupuncture were recently published in collaboration with Professor Kun-Chan Lan's, PhD, biomedical research group from Tainan, Taiwan. 4
By changing the focal point of the laser, a lifting–thrusting stimulation method for laser acupuncture could be developed. The first results are more than promising. Laser acupuncture with a lift–thrust function resulted in significantly higher temperature increases in fingertips than that without a lift–thrust function through stimulating the Neiguan point.
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Furthermore, laser acupuncture applied on nonacupoints has no effect on increasing temperature even if a lift–thrust function was applied. This indicates that the lift–thrust function is extremely helpful for improving performance of laser acupuncture. Further investigations are currently in progress. In this Special Issue, you will also find a report concerning a “2D galvo mirror” as a positioning laser acupuncture device for multi-acupoints stimulation