Patent Application for Acupuncture Needle

This post was first published on 5th April, 2011.

On 6th November 1995, Tae. W Yoo of Seol from Korea filed a patent application (US 5624460) titled “Needle for Acupuncture”. Acupuncture is used as an alternative medicine, adapted from Chinese medical practices in which specific body areas are pierced with fine needles for therapeutic purposes. It can be used to treat or prevent disease. Acupuncture incorporates traditional Chinese medicine as an integral part of practice and theory.

In the movie “Kiss of the Dragon” starring Jet Li was released in the year 2001 and was a big hit. No one can easily forget the breath taking fight sequences performed by Jet Li in that movie. One of the highlights of the movie was a bracelet wore by Jet Li which had so many special kind of needles in it. He used these needles in a special manner in order to defeat his opponents. After the release of this movie, that kind of bracelets got a name “Jet Li Bracelet”. The idea used by Jet Li is actually known as “Acupuncture”.

This Needle for Acupuncture system comprises of a needle with a grip portion and a needle head with a sharp end. The grip pipe was made from paper, rubber or foamed resin where the sharp end of needle extents out from grip pipe. A guide is marked surrounding the needle and the grip pipe. Another embodiment of the system is an adhesive membrane reasonably connecting together the grip portion and the uppermost end of the guide pipe. In the previously used needles, grip pipe was not present. So handling the needles with unclean hands raised infection issues which may ultimately cause other diseases. By providing a grip pipe with the needle these issues were effectively taken care off.

Acupuncture dates back to the pre historic times with written records from second century BC. Variants of acupuncture are practiced in different parts of the world. The acupuncture needles are of different types. Length of needles range from 13 to 130 mm and diameter vary from 0.16mm to 0.46mm. Shorter needles are used near face and eyes and longer needles are used in more fleshy areas. Thicker needles are used for robust patients. Acupuncture may cause injuries to the patient if the practitioners haven’t got enough practice. Though acupuncture needle is used for curing diseases, it can be a deadly weapon in the hands of a professionally trained fighter.

Acupuncture is prone to criticism. The main criticism is that the theory and practice of acupuncture is based on primitive and fanciful concepts of health and disease that bear no relationship to present scientific knowledge. Despite all these criticism, acupuncture is practiced in many parts of the world. Below mentioned is a patent application related to acupuncture needles.

Acupuncture is an effective tool in the hands of a wise man. It can be used for life saving purposes as well as for life taking purposes. Choice is yours. Use wisely!!!!!!!

Authored by Naveen