Bioengineering assessment of acupuncture, part 1: thermography.

In Western society, acupuncture is becoming a popular complementary method to medical treatment. However, a scientific understanding of acupuncture has not been completely developed but will absolutely be necessary for the increased acceptance of acupuncture by the Western medical community. This first part of the review article describes, in a general introduction, milestones of acupuncture research within the last 30 years and in a specific part the possibilities and limitations of infrared thermography, a noninvasive biomedical engineering method, within acupuncture research.