New “Physicians” on Duty: Why Are Top Tertiary Hospitals Starting to Use Robots for Moxibustion?

Power on, open the panel, and with just a click of the pre-set “customized” acupuncture-moxibustion therapy plan, the robot will start to ignite, remove ash, identify meridians and acupoints, and control temperature or intensity automatically. It provides patients with a flexible and novel personalized therapy experience. Such a smart and agile device is the acupuncture-moxibustion therapy robot.

Introduction and Application of Acupuncture-Moxibustion Therapy Robots

In this fast-paced information age, with the continuous improvement of living standards and the increasing intensity of population aging, people's demand for health and wellness is becoming more urgent and higher.

In recent years, acupuncture-moxibustion therapy robots, as an emerging therapeutic technology, have been favored by many top-tier hospitals in China. For example, the Affiliated Hospital of Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Shanxi Hospital of Acupuncture and Moxibustion have begun to introduce acupuncture robots one after another as supporting equipment for traditional Chinese medicine rehabilitation outpatient departments. By leveraging advanced robot technology, precise positioning systems, and air purification modules, robot acupuncture can quickly and accurately locate acupoints, providing patients with a safe, comfortable, and personalized treatment experience.

Reasons Behind the Replacement of Traditional Acupuncture-Moxibustion

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that the pharmacological effects produced by the combustion of mugwort need a certain amount of time to deeply penetrate the deep layers of human skin and meridians. Therefore, it is a common practice to treat a single acupoint for 10-30 minutes each time. This also leads to the high requirement for the skill level of traditional acupuncture physicians. They not only need to master certain techniques and experience but also need to accurately locate acupoints and apply stable stimulation intensity according to the patient's physical condition.

Traditional acupuncture requires patients to frequently visit medical institutions for standardized diagnosis and treatment, which is inconvenient for some patients with limited time or those who cannot visit frequently. At the same time, due to the current shortage of traditional Chinese medicine physicians and the uneven level of their skills, many places have even experienced a situation of “no one to use.” This has also led to the rising trend of acupuncture robots.

Zhimeng Kangmin’s “Taikeai” Therapy Solution

The “Taikeai” robot replicates and innovates the capabilities of traditional acupuncture-moxibustion, bringing new possibilities to the medical field. By utilizing image processing technology and algorithm models to accurately locate patients’ acupoints and apply appropriate acupuncture-moxibustion techniques, it achieves the following new empowerment for traditional acupuncture-moxibustion:

• More convenient operation: Through the algorithm learning system, “Taikeai” has fully mastered four traditional acupuncture-moxibustion techniques and can accurately find corresponding acupoints with the help of image processing and infrared positioning functions, reducing errors and truly achieving an unmanned therapy experience for one machine and one person.

• Higher safety: The “Taikeai” robot can intelligently monitor the patient’s skin temperature through infrared sensors. Patients can freely adjust the temperature and treatment time through a remote control to ensure the safety and therapeutic effect of acupuncture-moxibustion. At the same time, “Taikeai” is also equipped with safety monitoring and feedback functions. When abnormal collisions are detected, it can issue an alarm and return to a safe position to ensure the safety of patients.

• More significant therapeutic effect: By configuring an online consultation system, “Taikeai” provides users with comprehensive health assessment and suggestions, and offers personalized acupuncture-moxibustion plans according to users’ treatment needs.

Looking future ahead, Zhimeng Kangmin will continue to empower the traditional Chinese medicine therapy and health care industry with AI technology, making technological achievements accessible to the public, and providing strong support for the application scenarios of social intelligent health services.