preparation and application of zhuang medicine threads for moxibustion in dysmenorrhea treatment

Standardized Operation Process of Zhuang Medicine Line Moxibustion in Rats

Zhuang medicine thread moxibustion therapy is a unique external treatment method guided by Zhuang medicine theory, which uses ramie thread soaked in various Zhuang medicine preparation solutions. After being removed, one end of the ramie thread is ignited on a lamp to form a bead-shaped charcoal spark, which is then quickly burned directly onto a certain acupoint or part of the human body surface to prevent and treat diseases1. This therapy can treat various diseases and symptoms in clinical practice, especially chronic pain, geriatric diseases, insomnia, asthma, rheumatism, and other chronic diseases. In clinical practice, many researchers have conducted extensive theoretical discussions and conducted rigorous clinical controlled studies to optimize their operational techniques and explain their mechanism of action2,3,4. Due to the limitations of human experimental materials, the mechanism of action of Zhuang medicine thread moxibustion needs to be further validated through animal experiments. However, the therapeutic effect of Zhuang medicine line moxibustion is influenced by factors such as moxibustion intensity, heat intensity, and moxibustion frequency. Manual operation cannot precisely control each influencing factor. Therefore, it is necessary to design an instrument to maintain the influencing factors of Zhuang medicine line moxibustion, which is the direction of future experimental research.
This article designs a Zhuang medicine line moxibustion simulation instrument to maintain a constant force, heat, and frequency. The frequency and heat can be adjusted according to experimental needs, and it can be applied to the study of analgesic experiments to observe the analgesic effect of Zhuang medicine line moxibustion on pain animal models to solve the standardization problem of Zhuang medicine line moxibustion in the operation process of experimental animals.
Design Principle of Moxibustion Simulator for Zhuang Medicine Line 
To enable technical personnel in this field to understand better the technical solution of the Zhuang Medicine Line Moxibustion Simulator, the following is a detailed description of this instrument in conjunction with Figure 1. The Zhuang Medicine Line Moxibustion Simulator includes a base (1), support device (2), medicine line control device (3), ignition device (4), and locator (5). The base is a rectangular structure as a whole, with the top surface set as an operating table. The support device includes a vertical axis and a horizontal axis, with slots for vertical and horizontal movement, respectively on the vertical and horizontal axes. The medicine line control device includes a shell, a clamping pushing component, a medicine line, an incoming button, and a propulsion motor. The clamping-pushing component and the medicine line are set inside the shell, the incoming button is set on the shell&#39;s outer surface, and the incoming button is controlled and connected to the clamping-pushing component. The propulsion motor is arranged inside the base. The ignition device includes an ignition support shaft, an igniter, a wire, an ignition button, and a speed control button. The igniter is installed on the ignition support shaft, and the ignition support shaft is vertically arranged on the operating table. The igniter is connected to a speed control button set on the side of the base and an ignition button set on the surface of the igniter through a wire. The locator includes a positioning rod shaft and a positioning ring, wherein the positioning ring is set at the end of the positioning rod shaft, and the positioning rod shaft can also perform vertical movement. The ignition support shaft and positioning rod shaft are both &#34;L&#34; shaped telescopic rod structures, and the side of the base is also equipped with a power switch and power indicator light.
As one of the common gynecological diseases in adolescent women, primary dysmenorrhea (PD) has a high incidence rate and great harm, although it has no organic disease5. The survey results of relevant literature show that the prevalence of primary dysmenorrhea in different countries ranges from 45% to 90%6. Other studies have found that primary dysmenorrhea may be related to changes in prostaglandins and interleukins. Elevated levels of these factors can lead to uterine smooth muscle contraction, spasms, and reduced uterine blood flow7,8. In previous clinical studies, it has been found that cold coagulation syndrome accounts for more than half of the total number of primary dysmenorrhea patients. Currently, the modeling methods for dysmenorrhea related to cold coagulation syndrome include ice cold stimulation, ice water immersion with medication, low-temperature refrigerator, cold wind environment, and local limb low-temperature freezing method to simulate clinical cold coagulation syndrome. Patients with primary dysmenorrhea often experience systemic cold coagulation and blood stasis due to external cold, and pain is caused by obstruction. Therefore, we chose the ice-cold stimulation method. The dysmenorrhea model is established using the commonly recognized combination of estradiol benzoate and oxytocin9. As one of the most distinctive therapies of Zhuang medicine, Zhuang medicine thread moxibustion therapy is widely spread in the Guangxi region. Its therapeutic effect on primary dysmenorrhea, especially those with cold coagulation syndrome, is significant, but the mechanism of action is still unclear. This article observes the effects of Zhuang medicine thread moxibustion therapy on the twisting experiment and infrared thermography of the uterine region in rats with cold coagulation type dysmenorrhea and explores the possible mechanism of Zhuang medicine thread moxibustion treatment for cold coagulation type dysmenorrhea.

Author Spotlight: Demonstrating Therapeutic Effect of Automated Zhuang Medicine Line Moxibustion Simulator

Medicated Thread Moxibustion Therapy of Zhuang Medicine and its Application in a Rat Model of Cold-Congealing Syndrome of Primary Dysmenorrhea

Our research scope is to explore the mechanism of action of Zhuang medicine line moxibustion through a basic experiment. Our experiment aims to answer the question of how to standardize the use of Zhuang medicine line moxibustion in experimental animal operations. This article successfully developed a Zhuang medicine line moxibustion simulator, based on mechanical and electrical control and automatic technology.The instrument can maintain a constant moxibustion force, temperature and frequency, avoiding the instability of human operation. The efficacy of Zhuang medicine line moxibustion varies among different operators, even if the same doctor has differences in the timing of each moxibustion due to factors such as their technique and state, which can easily lead to errors. Basic research needs to minimize human interference factors.By quantitatively outputting the stimulation amount of moxibustion, the effect of Zhuang medicine line moxibustion can be quantified, achieving the stability of the results, which has a positive motivating effect on the basic experiments of ethnic medicine. With the rapid development of artificial intelligence and image recognition technology, the next step is to use image recognition technology to more accurately control the time when the big fire occurs. And furthermore, apply human computer interaction panels to the instrument, making the operation more intelligent and accurate.

Preparation and Application of Zhuang Medicine Threads for Moxibustion in Dysmenorrhea Treatment

To begin, select medicinal liquor ingredients according to the treatment of different diseases. Soak the ingredients in one liter of 75%alcohol. After 10 days, filter the solution and use the filtrate as medicinal liquor.Soak the ramie thread in medicinal liquor. After 10 days, remove the thread and place it in a bottle for later use. After anesthetizing the rat, use a shaving machine to clean the hair in the abdominal area.Select and mark the acupoints on the lower abdominal area of the rat. Fix the rat on a transparent acrylic board using high elastic rubber bands to expose the abdomen. Place the fixed rat on the operating table of the Zhuang medicine line moxibustion simulator.Adjust the positioning ring to adhere to the rat's abdomen, ensuring one marked acupoint is at the center of the ring. Next, remove one soaked medicine line from the bottle and insert it into the thread control device. Rotate the screw knobs on the vertical and horizontal axes of the support frame.Adjust the shell of the drug line control device so that the distance between the bottom of the shell and the positioning ring is two centimeters. Adjust the ignition support shaft and the positioning rod shaft accordingly. Click the wire entry button to expose the medicine line 0.5 centimeters from the shell.Using an ignition device, flame the medicine line. Then within a second, perform moxibustion twice on one of the acupoints. After the moxibustion of an acupoint, move the transparent acrylic frame to adjust its position for the next acupoint.Compared to the Vehicle group, rats in the Model, Western Medicine, and Moxibustion groups experienced writhing reactions, confirming the successful creation of the primary dysmenorrhea rat model. Compared with the Vehicle group, the Model group rats showed its significant decrease, and the Moxibustion group rats showed an increase in uterine surface projection temperature.

preparation-application-zhuang-medicine-threads-for-moxibustion

Research

JoVE Journal

Behavior

Zhuang medicine thread moxibustion therapy is one of the national intangible cultural heritages. It is a Zhuang medicine characteristic therapy that involves igniting ramie thread soaked in Zhuang medicine preparation solution and directly moxibustion on a certain acupoint or part of the body surface. This treatment method is characterized by combining drug, acupoints, and moxibustion, stimulating the skin's receptors at the acupoints through the warmth of moxibustion, affecting the biochemical metabolism of histiocyte and the function of the nervous system so that the drug ingredients can be absorbed through the skin. However, the therapeutic effect of Zhuang medicine line moxibustion is influenced by factors such as moxibustion intensity, heat intensity, and moxibustion frequency. Manual operation cannot precisely control each influencing factor. Here, we design a Zhuang medicine line moxibustion simulation instrument to maintain a constant force, heat, and frequency. The frequency and heat can be adjusted according to experimental needs, and it can be applied to the study of analgesic experiments to observe the analgesic effect of Zhuang medicine line moxibustion on pain animal models to solve the standardization problem of Zhuang medicine line moxibustion in the operation process of experimental animals.This study establishes a model of primary dysmenorrhea in rats with cold coagulation syndrome and provides a detailed introduction to the preparation, process, and precautions of Zhuang medicine thread moxibustion on the model of primary dysmenorrhea in rats with cold coagulation syndrome. The intervention of Zhuang medicine thread moxibustion on primary dysmenorrhea in rats with cold coagulation syndrome is evaluated by twisting score and infrared thermal imaging body surface temperature detection, intuitively demonstrating the therapeutic effect of Zhuang medicine thread moxibustion, and a preliminary analysis of its mechanism of action is conducted.

This article demonstrates the standardized operation process of Zhuang medicine line moxibustion in experimental animals. To achieve repeatability and accuracy of Zhuang medicine line moxibustion, we developed a simulator to maintain strength, heat, and frequency. We constructed a dysmenorrhea model for experimental verification in rats with cold coagulation syndrome.

Zhuang medicine thread moxibustion therapy is one of the national intangible cultural heritages. It is a Zhuang medicine characteristic therapy that ...