Background. Warm-needle acupuncture (WA) and fire-needle acupuncture are treatment techniques that use the combination of acupuncture and thermal stimulation. In clinical practice, a new method of fire-needle acupuncture called heated-needle acupuncture (HA) has been proposed, wherein the needle is directly heated after insertion. WA and HA share similarities in their methods, and no previous study has sought to assess whether their thermal outcomes are also similar. Methods. We controlled environmental variables and measured the maximum temperatures and temperature changes of a silicon phantom in which K-type thermocouples were embedded at depths of 0, 2, 5, 7, and 10mm. WA and HA were also performed with acupuncture needles of various thicknesses (0.30×40mm, 0.40×40mm, and 0.50×40mm). Results. Different time-dependent temperature distributions were observed between the two acupuncture methods: HA yielded a higher maximum temperature and temperature change on the surface, whereas WA yielded higher temperatures at the other tested depths. The thermal patterns were similar among the needles of different thicknesses for each method, with the following exception: while the temperature change and maximum temperature did not differ significantly by needle thickness for WA, these parameters increased significantly with needle thickness for HA. Conclusion. The two acupuncture procedures yielded different thermal patterns in a controlled environment. Further studies are necessary to reflect the effect of external environment variables occurring in reality.

Syndrome differentiation and disease diagnosis are central to Traditional Asian Medicine (TAM) because they guide personalized treatment. Yet, most TAM courses give students few structured opportunities to practise these paired skills. We developed Gen-SynDi, a knowledge-guided generative-AI framework that links syndrome differentiation with disease diagnosis to improve training. Using standardized patient files from the National Institute for Korean Medicine Development, we built a fatigue-focused dataset covering five Western-defined diseases and seven TAM syndromes. Carefully designed prompts and a large language model produced 28 virtual patient cases by joining compatible disease–syndrome pairs while preserving clinical realism. Inside an interactive web simulation, students conduct history-taking, receive free-text answers, and propose both syndrome and disease diagnoses; immediate feedback highlights missing questions, reasoning gaps, and overall accuracy. A built-in scoring module supplies quantitative measures of inquiry coverage and diagnostic precision, plus brief explanations of overlooked clues. A prompt-component role analysis confirmed that our prompt design improves response fidelity, and external experts endorsed the scenarios’ realism and educational value. Gen-SynDi therefore offers a scalable bridge between textbook knowledge and clinical practice, strengthening learners’ skills in differential diagnosis and syndrome differentiation.

Dong-Joo Kim, Hyo-Rim Jo, Hansol Jang, Seong-Kyeong Choi, Chan-Yung Jung, Won-Suk Sung, Seung-Deok Lee, Byung-Wook Lee, Eun-Jung Kim. J Acupunct Meridian Stud 2022;15:174-80. https://doi.org/10.51507/j.jams.2022.15.3.174

Radial pulse diagnosis is the most common method to examine the human health state in Traditional East Asian Medicine (TEAM). A cold stress-related suboptimal health state (subhealth) is often undetectable during routine medical examinations, however, it can be detected through the palpation of specific pulse waves, particularly a ‘tight pulse’, in TEAM. Therefore, this study examined a correlation between ‘tight pulse’ and vascular changes in the radial artery (RA) induced by a cold pressor trial (CPT). Twenty healthy subjects underwent sequentially control trial and CPT with room-temperature and ice-cold water, respectively, on the right forearm. The radial pulse and vascular changes were then examined on the left arm. The radial pulse scores for frequencies of ‘tight pulse’ with strong arterial tension increased after the CPT compared with the control trial. The pulse scores were reversely correlated with the RA thickness and volumes in ultrasonography, but not with changes in the systolic/diastolic blood pressure. The RA thickness-based vascular surface and three-dimensional images visualized a ‘tight pulse’ showing the vasoconstriction and bumpy-/rope-shaped vascular changes in the radial pulse diagnostic region after the CPT. These findings provide valuable insights into the potential integration of clinical radial pulse diagnosis with ultrasonography for cold-related subhealth.

Byung Wook Lee, Yong Taek Oh, Hansol Jang, Seong-Kyeong Choi, Hyo Rim Jo, Won-Suk Sung, Eun-Jung Kim. Korean J Acupunct 2021;38:282-9. https://doi.org/10.14406/acu.2021.029

Ja-Ha Lee, Jeong-Hyun Moon, U-Ryeong Chung, Soo-Hwa Hong, Gyoungeun Park, Byung Wook Lee, Won-Suk Sung, Jong-Hwa Yoon, Eun-Jung Kim. Korean J Acupunct 2023;40:184-93. https://doi.org/10.14406/acu.2023.022