Li Jing, Grierson Lawrence, Wu Mary X, Breuer Ronny, Zhou Bin, Carnahan Heather
Department of Sports & Health, Nanjing Sport Institute, Nanjing 210014, China.
Zhen Ci Yan Jiu. 2013 Oct;38(5):415-9.
To observe the features of acupuncture needle twirling manipulations in order to promote the development of objective and quantitative performance standards of acupuncture manipulation.
Twelve expert acupuncturists and 12 novices were enrolled in this study. Everyone of them was instructed to perform 10 trials of the uniform reinforcing and reducing technique of acupuncture on an artificial skin-pad that was mounted to a six-axis force transducer and each subject had his or her dominant hand index finger affixed with an infrared light emitting diode for acquiring parameters of acupuncture needle manipulation. The force transducer was used to measure the force the participant applied as they held an acupuncture needle to stimulate the skin-pad, and at the mean time, an optoelectric camera was employed to measure the position of the diode.
In comparison with the expert acupuncturist group, the straggling coefficient of needle-twirling frequency was significantly bigger in the novice group (P < 0.01), suggesting a higher consistency in the trial-by-trial needle-twirling operation of the expert acupuncturists. Comparison of the needle-twirling force showed that the force values of the Z-axis in both expert group and novice group were considerably higher than those of the X-axis and Y-axis in the same one group (P < 0.01). The time of pre-needle-twirling of the novice group was markedly longer than that of the expert group (P < 0.01), suggesting a skilled operation technique of the expert acupuncturists. No significant differences were found between the expert acupuncturist group and novice group in the needle-twirling amplitude, frequency, force and total operation time (P > 0.05).
Movement frequency consistency and temporal efficiency are the action features of expert acupuncturists in performing the uniform reducing-reinforcing twirling skill, which differentiates the performances of experts from novices. The assessment and training of this acupuncture skill should focus on these kinematic features.
观察针刺捻转手法的特点，以促进针刺手法客观化、量化操作标准的发展。
本研究纳入12名针灸专家和12名新手。指导他们每人在安装于六轴力传感器上的人工皮肤垫上进行10次针刺平补平泻手法操作，每位受试者的优势手食指固定一个红外发光二极管，用于采集针刺手法参数。力传感器用于测量受试者持针刺激皮肤垫时施加的力，同时，采用光电摄像机测量二极管的位置。
与针灸专家组相比，新手组捻转频率的离散系数显著更大（P<0.01），提示针灸专家在逐次捻转操作中具有更高的一致性。捻转力比较显示，专家组和新手组Z轴的力值均显著高于同一组的X轴和Y轴力值（P<0.01）。新手组针刺前捻转时间显著长于专家组（P<0.01），提示针灸专家操作技术熟练。针灸专家组和新手组在捻转幅度、频率、力和总操作时间方面无显著差异（P>0.05）。
运动频率一致性和时间效率是针灸专家进行平补平泻捻转手法的动作特征，这是专家与新手表现的区别所在。该针灸技能的评估和训练应关注这些运动学特征。
