Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine develops ‘ultrasound moxibustion therapy’

Korean researchers have developed a new medical equipment replacing traditional moxibustion therapy with ultrasound technology.

A Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine research team led by Dr. Ryu Yeon-hee announced on Monday that they have successfully developed a "smart moxibustion therapy machine" combining the traditional moxibustion method and modern ultrasound technology.

Moxibustion is a traditional oriental therapy using moxa to warm regions and meridian points of the body to stimulate circulation. However, the effects may largely vary with the condition of the material used or actual practice, not to mention the risk of skin burn.

The research team created a therapy machine that helps useful ingredients of moxa be easily absorbed by the body stimulating the meridian points with ultrasound waves. This was possible with the vibration of the waves transformed into heat energy, helping the temperature to stay at 42-44 degrees Celsius, which is known to be most appropriate for the best efficacy.

The performance of the new therapy was measured using lab mice suffering from indigestion. The result confirmed that the ingredients were absorbed to the body healing the condition, after conducting treatment 30 minutes per day for three days, which is similar to the traditional therapy.

“The machine can maximize the benefits of the conventional therapy while eliminating smoke or risk of skin burn,” researcher Ryu said.

권예슬 동아사이언스기자yskwon@donga.com