Recent research trends of electrical, magnetic, optical and acoustic stimulations at acupoints; a literature review

Abstract

Purpose: In parallel with the growing popularity of the clinical practice of acupuncture, research on modern acupuncture-like stimulationdevices (ASDs) hasbeen increasing in recent decades. To summarize the research on the four most popular ASDs, which are based on electrical, magnetic, laser and ultrasonic stimulations, with a focus on their effectiveness in human beings. Methods: We analyzed papers from several medical electronic databases, including Medline, PubMed, the Cochrane Library, and Web of Science. Studies with all types of design and clinical indications that were performed with human subjects and written in English were included. We excluded papers that contained clinical experiments on animals and manual acupuncture techniques, andwe also excluded review papers. Results: A total of 728 studies were found, and 195 studies met our inclusion criteria. The 195 studies were included the 4 types of stimulation methods: 133 studies with electric stimulation (ES), 44 studies with laser stimulation (LS), 16 studies with magnetic stimulation (MS), and 2 studies with ultrasonic stimulation (US). These 4 types of stimulation can be further classified into 13 categories according to their effects. Of these studies, 181 reported therapeutic benefits. A total of 114 studies (58%) used random clinical trials (RCTs), and 109 studies (96%) reported therapeutic benefits among the RCTs. Conclusion: For the first time, we reviewed the therapeutic effects of the fourmost popular ASDswhich are ES, LS, MS and US. We found that the ES technique was the earliest modern application and the most widely studied among ASDs, and was followed by LS, MS and US. The majority of the studies (32%) focused on the effects of analgesia and pain relief, and brain activity (16%) was an emerging research field. We expect noninvasive or minimally invasive ASDs will become more popular in the acupuncture research due to safety, infection, and convenience. Contact: Min-Ho Jun, mino@kiom.re.kr