Electric Corrosion of STS304 Acupuncture Needles Used for Electroacupuncture

STS304 스테인리스 강선 호침에서 전침 자극 후 침체에 나타나는 전기적 부식 연구

Objectives : The electroacupuncture(EA) was often used in Oriental medicine clinic and basic researches. However, there have been neither any national standard of acupuncture needles in Korea nor many studies about the property of acupuncture needles for applying electrical stimulations. Therefore we investigated the electrical corrosion property of acupuncture needles used for EA stimulation in clinic. Methods : We observed the occurrence of electrical corrosion like changes in the surface of acupuncture needles after EA stimulation with various parameters(electrical stimulation intensity, treatment duration, diameter of needle) under a light microscope. We performed EA stimulation on Baekhoe($GV_{20}$) or Joksamli($ST_{36}$) of rats with intensity of 0.025, 0.05, 0.075, 0.1, 0.25 or 0.5mA at a 10Hz frequency. Results : The electrical corrosion-like changes were found on the surface of needles when the EA stimulation was given over 0.05mA of intensity. When electrical stimulation was treated for 10min, the electrical corrosion-like changes were low, but the electrical corrosion-like changes gradually increased by the treatment duration(20, 30min). We also found that acupuncture needles of 0.2mm diameter were produced more extensive electrical corrosion-like changes than acupuncture needles of 0.3 or 0.4mm diameter by electrical stimulation. Conclusions: These results suggested that EA stimulation could produce electrical corrosion-like changes of acupuncture needles through intensity of current, duration of electric stimulation and/or diameter of needle.