Abstract
Acupuncture is an ancient method in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Usually acupuncture needles are inserted into the body to achieve therapeutic effects. However, there are still some challenges to achieve consensuses. What is the essence or anatomy of acupuncture meridians? How does acupuncture work? How to improve acupuncture clinical therapeutic effect? These questions may be addressed by highlighting recent developments in innovative nanotechnology. The aim of this review is to elucidate the possible applications and future potential of nanotechnology in acupuncture. Nanoparticles are promising for imaging and it may gain a better understanding of the essence of meridian. Nanotechnology enables nanochips/nanosensors providing new solutions in detection reactive molecules in vivo and in real time. The connections and changing of these molecules with needle stimulation will allow insight into the mechanisms of acupuncture. Acupuncture combined with nano-TCM could provide a great potential in some type of characteristic acupuncture therapies improvement. By virtue of nanotechnology, the acupuncture needles could be innovated as multifunction toolbox. Acupuncture needles could be considered as a method for controlled drug delivery. The nanoparticulated photothermal, magnetothermal, photodynamic agents could also be filled on the surface of needle.
Highlights
Acupuncture is an ancient typical therapy in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), in which acupuncture needles are inserted into the body to achieve desired therapeutic effects [1]
The results indicated that the carbon nanotubes (CNTs)/AN was quite stable and able to detect the neurotransmitters in vivo, showing a great potential for better understanding the mechanism of acupuncture treatment
Fluorescent magnetic nanoparticles allow the application of magnetic properties together with the ability of fluorescence to visible, for example, primo vascular system (PVS)
Summary
Acupuncture is an ancient typical therapy in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), in which acupuncture needles are inserted into the body to achieve desired therapeutic effects [1]. The clinical applications of acupuncture spread far beyond these diseases. The meridian theory has a solid role in guiding the clinical practice of acupuncture and is a fundamental of TCM science. It is becoming increasingly necessary to standardize acupuncture treatment [7]. Reducing the size of the structure to the nanoscale results in completely different properties, like unique performances in fields such as chemistry, photology, electricity, and magnetism [12,13,14]. Due to these attractive properties, nanoparticles have been widely used for biological applications such as biomarkers, imaging, and biosensors.
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