title: Development and clinical application of a precise temperature-control device as an alternate for conventional moxibustion therapy.
abstract: Moxibustion therapy has been used in East Asian medicine for more than a thousand years. However, there are some problems associated with this therapy in clinical practice. These problems include lack of control over the treatment temperature, emission of smoke, and uneven temperature distribution over the treatment region. In order to resolve these problems, we developed a precise temperature-control device for use as an alternate for conventional moxibustion therapy. In this paper, we describe the treatment of a single patient with paralytic ileus that was treated with moxibustion. We also describe an evaluation of temperature distribution on the skin surface after moxibustion therapy, the development of a heat-transfer control device (HTCD), an evaluation of the HTCD, and the clinical effects of treatment using the HTCD. The HTCD we developed can heat the skin of the treatment region uniformly, and its effect may be equivalent to conventional moxibustion, without the emission of smoke and smell. This device can be used to treat ileus, abdominal pain, and coldness of abdomen in place of conventional moxibustion in modern hospitals.
authors: Department of Traditional Asian Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8575, Japan.
authors: Shin
authors: S
authors: Takayama
authors: Shigeru
authors: S
authors: Takashima
authors: Junnosuke
authors: J
authors: Okajima
authors: Masashi
authors: M
authors: Watanabe
authors: Tetsuharu
authors: T
authors: Kamiya
authors: Takashi
authors: T
authors: Seki
authors: Miyako
authors: M
authors: Yamasaki
authors: Nobuo
authors: N
authors: Yaegashi
authors: Tomoyuki
authors: T
authors: Yambe
authors: Shigenao
authors: S
authors: Maruyama