Laserneedle-Acupuncture: Science and Practice

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The ability to heal illness and relieve pain with light is a fascinating vision.

The laser needles described in this compendium are characteristic of modern advancements. For the first time, they allow painless and highly effective acupuncture treatment according to traditional rules. Laser needles are products resulting from interdisciplinary and international research. Their effects open up new therapeutic dimensions beyond acupuncture whose medical-technological foundations are described here by authors from Austria, China, Germany, Switzerland and Korea.

The history of laser needles reveals the astonishing speed with which this innovative technique has spread into a vast variety of medical applications. The number of noninvasive treatments, especially in acupuncture as well as in medicine in general, has grown almost exponentially since the realization of the first laser needles in the year 2000 (Figure).

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  Laser acupuncture with laser needles (3B Scientific, Hamburg, Germany).

The development of these precise and easily controllable optical energy sources is closely linked with the scientific investigation of their peripheral and central effects performed at the Medical University of Graz in Austria (http://litscher.info). In addition to these verified, reproducible, measurable effects which have been proven in numerous double-blind studies, such as the specific changes in blood flow velocity in the brain, the application of laser needles on the patient's body guarantees a traditional doctor-patient relationship and promises sympathy and empathy. Furthermore, the needle equivalence in the area of acupuncture could be shown for several effects and parameters.

The book is available in German, English and Korean. Grateful acknowledgment is made to Professor Jang Insoo (KMD, PhD) of the College of Korean Medicine, Woosuk University. As one of the leading experts in this area of research, he has translated the book from English into Korean at a very high scientific level.

The future development of laser needles will take place mainly in the area of acupuncture applications. What drives development is more data, numbers and facts for a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms involved in this treatment method, as well as the availability of even better laser needles with accessories suitable for combined therapies in which laser needles are only one part of the therapy concept. In any case, laser needle medicine has to match its possibilities with the current standards of well-established or alternative biomedical practices, in order to contribute to an improvement of quality in medicine.

Further information about the book:

Professor Gerhard Litscher, MSc, PhD, MDsc

Research Unit of Biomedical Engineering in Anesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine and TCM-Research Center Graz

Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 29

8036 Graz, Austria

Phone: +43 316 385-3907

Fax: +43 316 385-3908

E-mail: gerhard.litscher@meduni-graz.at

Web: http://litscher.info, http://litscher.at, http://tcm-graz.at