Abstract
ABSTRACT
Acupuncture is gaining in popularity as a complementary method to medical treatment. Scientific investigations will be essential for the acceptance of acupuncture not only by the Western medical community but the rest of the world.
Since 1997, the Research Unit of Biomedical Engineering in Anesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, and now the TCM Research Center Graz of Graz Medical University in Austria, has been dealing with the demystification of acupuncture and examining, using noninvasive methods, how different stimulation modalities (manual needle acupuncture, laser needle acupuncture, and electroacupuncture) affect peripheral and central functions. The laser needle acupuncture, which was examined scientifically for the first time in Graz, represents a new painless acupuncture method for which 8–16 laser needles are glued to the skin, but not inserted into it. This review summarizes some of the peripherally and centrally measured effects of acupuncture.
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