Abstract:
The invention discloses the electrical bronze acupuncture statue apparatus that comprises the electrical elements, the sensors and the embedded system. The invention simulates the acupuncture points for practicing the traditional Chinese medicine treatment and provides the virtual results.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The invention relates to an acupuncture teaching and practicing apparatus, more particularly to an electrical bronze acupuncture statue apparatus. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Prior Art 
         [0004]    The Emperor Jen-Jong has ordered Doctor Wang Wei-Yi of Imperial Academy to revise the medical books and check the acupuncture literatures in the period of Tensung in Northern Sung Dynasty of China. In Tensung 4 (1026), Doctor Wang Wei-Yi designed a bronze acupuncture statue, which could be used by operators to practice the accuracy for the identification of acupuncture points. Doctor Wang Wei-Yi drew the front view and side view of the human body according to the human shape, and marked the accurate positions of acupuncture points. Doctor Wang Wei-Yi wrote 3 volumes of medical books by collecting the clinical experiences and gathering all acupuncture theories, in which 657 acupuncture points were recorded. The acupuncture points were arranged by the combination of meridian points and human parts, which not only can make people to understand the meridian points system, but also can provide the demand for clinical acquisition of acupuncture points. 
         [0005]    In addition, Doctor Wang Wei-Yi designed and casted two bronze acupuncture statues. The size of statue was similar to an adult person. The body is composed of a front part and a rear part. The organs were put in the cavity of hollow chest and abdomen. The positions and orientations of meridian points were casted on the surface of bronze statue, and a hole was drilled in each acupuncture point. When operators want to use the bronze statue to practice the acupuncture, he has to coat a layer of yellow wax on the bronze statue firstly, and fill mercury into the bronze statue, then use the needle to pierce points. If the piercing of needle is accurate, the mercury will flow out from the hole. Otherwise no mercury will flow out from the hole, which also shows the piercing of needle is inaccurate. It could be used to practice the accuracy for the identification of points or teaching and examination purposes. Thus, the bronze statue has already had the basic point positioning function. 
         [0006]    However, since from several thousands years ago till right now, there is no advanced pseudo-bronze acupuncture statue developed for practicing the accuracy for the identification of acupuncture points or teaching and examination purposes. In order to provide the demand for the practice of acupuncture piercing, it is necessary to develop the related techniques of bronze acupuncture statue, so as to save the practicing time and cost and achieve the goal of promoting acupuncture piercing techniques. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    The invention discloses the electrical bronze acupuncture statue apparatus that comprises the electrical elements, the sensors and the embedded system. Its feature is to combine different sensors to simulate the acupuncture points, and to detect the points pierced by operators and the acupuncture skills (such as the order of piercing, the depth of needle, and the rotations of the needle, etc.). 
         [0008]    When an operator is piercing or withdrawing the needle, the invention will employ the interrupt circuit to generate an external interrupt signal to drive the first chip, in order to carry out the scanning action to obtain the positioning function. 
         [0009]    Then, the first chip will transfer the positioning sensor signals to the embedded system, to inform the embedded system about the needling point at present. The embedded system will process the information of positioning sensor signals, and send the processing result to the second chip. The second chip will detect other sensors in the specific acupuncture point according to the processing result, and the detecting signals will be sent back to the embedded system. The embedded system will carry out the interpretation of acupuncture conditions according to the detecting signals, and display the corresponding information on the display screen. 
         [0010]    The invention employs the electronic system to detect the acupuncture skills of the operator. Thus, compared with old mechanical bronze acupuncture statue, it has the advantages of real-time responses and reliability. 
         [0011]    The electrical bronze acupuncture statue of the invention can show the acupuncture conditions on the screen of the embedded system, so that the operator can understand the acupuncture skills. Furthermore, the program for the symptoms of diseases and relevant therapies can be written in the embedded system. After the operator inserts the needle, the screen can display the information whether the therapy is right or wrong, so as to achieve the goal of training. 
         [0012]    In addition, the invention is equipped with the sensor module which can be dismantled. All sensors can be integrated into a disassemble sensor module, which can be replaced if required. 
         [0013]    The invention employs the electronic sensing system to simulate the acupuncture points of the human body. Thus, compared with old mechanical bronze acupuncture statue, it has the advantages of reliability and convenience. 
         [0014]    The invention combines the sensor module, which except the point positioning function, also has the functions for detecting the acupuncture skills of the operator. 
         [0015]    The disease database written in the embedded system of the invention can record various diseases and relevant therapies, so that the operator not only can practice the techniques, but also can simulate the therapies by using the invention. 
         [0016]    The advantage and spirit of the invention can be understood further by the following detail description of invention and attached Figures. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0017]    The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will become more readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
           [0018]      FIG. 1  shows the detailed schematic structure of a preferred embodiment of the invention. 
           [0019]      FIG. 2A  shows the schematic diagram of the point positioning sensor. 
           [0020]      FIG. 2B  shows the complete circuit of the point positioning sensor. 
           [0021]      FIG. 3  shows the interrupt circuit of the sensor module. 
           [0022]      FIG. 4  shows the control diagram of the chip of the invention. 
           [0023]      FIG. 5  shows an embodiment for the point scanning circuit of the invention. 
           [0024]      FIG. 6A  shows an embodiment for the skill scanning circuit of the invention. 
           [0025]      FIG. 6B  shows the schematic diagram for the skill scanning circuit of the invention. 
           [0026]      FIG. 7  shows the embodiment diagram for the scanning circuit of the invention. 
           [0027]      FIG. 8  shows the detailed schematic structure of an embodiment of the invention. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0028]    The invention relates to an electrical bronze acupuncture statue apparatus, which is composed of four components mainly. Its detail internal structure is shown in  FIG. 1  and described as the followings: 
         [0029]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , the invention comprises the sensor module  101 , including the point positioning sensor  101 A, the interrupt circuit  101 B, and the skill detecting sensor  101 C, having the point detecting function; the first chip module  102 , including the first chip  102 A and the first chip scanning circuit  102 B, having the point positioning function; the embedded system  103  having the real-time data storage function and the prompt data processing function; and the second chip module  104  including the second chip  104 A and the second chip scanning circuit  104 B with the function of detecting skills. When the operator is piercing or withdrawing the needle, the interrupt circuit in the sensor module  101  will generate an external interrupt signal to activate the first chip module  102 , in order to carry out the point scanning action to obtain the positioning information. Then, the first chip module  102  will transfer the positioning signals to the embedded system  103 , to inform the embedded system  103  about the needling point at present. The embedded system  103  will process the positioning signals. Then as shown in  FIG. 1 , the embedded system  103  will send the processing result of positioning signals to the second chip module  104 , which will detect other sensors in the specific point according to the processing result, and send back the detected signals to the embedded system  103 . The embedded system  103  will carry out the interpretation of acupuncture conditions according to the detecting signals, and display the corresponding information on the display screen. 
         [0030]    As shown in  FIG. 2A , the sensor module  101  including the point positioning sensor  101 A, that is the electronic switch sensor, which is formed by the copper foil tape and the electric wire on the needle. When the operator pierces the point, the circuit will be connected. The output voltage Vo will change from low voltage to high voltage, and then activate the interrupt circuit  101 B to generate the interrupt signal, in order to drive the first chip  102 A and start to scan the sensor module  101 . 
         [0031]      FIG. 2B  shows the complete circuit of the point positioning sensor system. When the operator is piercing or withdrawing the needle, the output voltage Vox is changed to generate an interrupt signal, such that the points will be scanned. When the operator pierces the point x, the output voltage Vox is changed to high voltage. When the point is not pierced, it is kept at low voltage. Therefore, the voltage Vox can be used to determine whether the point is pierced or not. In addition, the contact sensor is adopted by the invention, and the magnetic type sensor and vision type sensor also can be adopted. 
         [0032]      FIG. 3  shows the interrupt circuit  101 B of the sensor module  101 . In order to save electricity, the scanning circuit is in sleep mode ordinarily. When the operator is piercing or withdrawing the needle on the bronze acupuncture statue, the interrupt circuit will generate an interrupt signal to activate the first chip  102 A and scanning circuit  102 B in order to carry out the point scanning action, wherein the voltage change is shown by Vd=100(V 1 −V 2 ) and the saturated voltage Vd is set as ±10V. The function of full-wave rectifier is to make Vr=|Vd|. When the operator is piercing or withdrawing the needle on the bronze acupuncture statue, the voltage Vi will be changed. Due to the charging or discharging of capacitor of delay  301 , a voltage difference will be generated between V 1  and V 2 . Then the voltage difference is amplified by the voltage difference amplifier  302  and rectified by the full-wave rectifier  303 , such that the output voltage Vr is 5V (high voltage). After the charging or discharging of the capacitor is completed, there is no voltage difference between V 1  and V 2 , and the output voltage Vr is 0V (low voltage). Thus a negative interrupt signal will be generated to activate the first chip  102 A, in order to carry on the point scanning action. 
         [0033]    The chip  401  shown in  FIG. 4  may be the first chip  102 A or the second chip  104 A. After the control signal  402  is emitted, the switching channel element  403  can be connected to different sensors in the sensor module  405  through the switching channel  404 , in order to detect the signal of sensors. 
         [0034]    As shown in  FIG. 5 , the invention employs the first chip  102 A and the scanning circuit  102 B composed of a plurality of multiplexers ADG508A to form the first chip module  102 . When Vr is changed from high voltage to low voltage due to the interrupt circuit, the first chip  102 A will scan the points. The multiplexer ADG508A is an electronic multi-task switch with  8  channels, and the selection of channel is controlled by the pins A 0 , A 1  and A 2 . When the first chip  102 A receives the interrupt signal, P 1 . 0 , P 1 . 1 , and P 1 . 2  of the first chip  102 A can control the pins A 0 , A 1  and A 2  of multiplexer, and switch them to different acupuncture points in accordance with the command, and let the first chip  102 A to detect the voltages of these points. After the first chip  102 A detects the voltages of acupuncture points, it will determine which acupuncture point is needled in accordance with the level of voltages, and send the positioning signal to the embedded system  103  through RS232. When the embedded system  103  receives the signal, it will activate the second chip module  104  to detect the skill detecting sensor  101 C at specified sensor module according to the signal of the first chip module  102 . 
         [0035]    As shown in  FIG. 6A , because the sensor module  101  usually contains many sensors, thus except the existing scanning circuit, a chip 74HC4053 with 3 electronic switches is added to eliminate the mutual interference problem of sensors in the sensor module  101 . As for its realization, the second chip module  104  will switch the multiplexer ADG508A to the sensor module  101  of the point to be detected according to the embedded system. The chip 74HC4053 will connect the sensor to be detected to the operating amplifier to form an analog circuit. And the other electronic switches will be grounded to eliminate the mutual interference problem of sensors in the sensor module. Finally, the output voltage Vo is converted to the digital signal through the analog to digital converter (ADC) ADC0804. 
         [0036]    As shown in  FIG. 6B , as for the example of the first sensor R11 in the sensor module, the current through the other sensors is zero due to grounding, so the other sensors do not influence the result of Vo. In other word, the result of Vo is determined by the value of R11 completely. Then, the second chip module  104  will send this digital signal back to the embedded system  103 . Thus the second chip module  104  has the function of transferring skill detecting signal, in order to recognize different acupuncture skills. 
         [0037]    As shown in  FIG. 7 , the first chip module  102  and the second chip module  104  can be integrated into the third chip module  105  (including the third chip  105 A and the third chip scanning circuit  105 B). When no signal is changed, the positioning sensor  701  in every sensor module will be connected to 5V, and the skill detecting sensor  702  in sensor module will be grounded. The switch  703  will be connected to Vox to form a positioning scanning circuit equivalent to the one shown in  FIG. 2B . And when the needling condition is changed, the third chip will receive an interrupt signal to carry out the point scanning action. Then, the third chip will make the positioning sensor in every sensor module to be grounded, and switch the switch  703  to connect to every operating amplifier in turn, in order to form a scanning circuit equivalent to the one shown in  FIG. 6A  to detect acupuncture skills. 
         [0038]    Finally, the whole integrated scheme is shown in  FIG. 8 . The third chip will send the positioning detecting signal and the skill detecting signal to the embedded system  103 . The integrated scheme has the advantage of reducing number of chips and simplifying the communication of signals. 
         [0039]    In the invention, the embedded system  103  adopts the A9M2410 chip, which is used for real-time data storing and for prompting data processing. It can process and judge the information of sensor sent from the first chip module  102  and the second chip module  104 , and display the result on the screen clearly, so that the operator can understand his acupuncture skills more easily. Because it has strong processing abilities, the program of disease symptoms and corresponding therapies can be built in, in order to be practiced by the operator. The embodiments are illustrated using the following examples. First, sore throat has to be treated by piercing two points, namely the Heku point and Shaoshang point. And the order is the Heku point first and continued by the Shaoshang point. As the second example, cold is divided into wind-cold and wind-heat in Chinese medicine. To treat wind-cold, the points such as Liehchueh point, Heku point, Fengmen point, and Fengchih point can be acupunctured. On the other hand, to treat wind-heat mainly, the points such as Yuchi point, Chistse point, Chuchih point, Neiting point, Tachui point, and Fengchih point can be acupunctured. 
         [0040]    The above-mentioned disease symptoms and corresponding therapies can be written into the database of the embedded system  103 , so that the operator not only can practice the techniques, but also can practice the therapies of diseases. In addition, because the part of the embedded system  103  is only responsible for receiving the signals, processing information and displaying the results, thus the personal computer can be used to substitute the embedded system  103 . 
         [0041]    The invention relates to a method to use the electrical bronze acupuncture statue apparatus, comprising: 
         [0042]    Firstly, the sensor module  101  emits an interrupt signal to activate the first chip module  102 . 
         [0043]    Then, the first chip module  102  scans the point positioning sensor in the sensor module  101 . 
         [0044]    Then, the first chip module  102  receives the positioning signal. 
         [0045]    And then, the embedded system  103  carries out real-time data storage and prompt data processing for the positioning detecting signal. 
         [0046]    Finally, the second chip module  104  receives commands from the embedded system and returns the skill-detecting signals to the embedded system, in order to form the method for using the electrical bronze acupuncture statue apparatus. 
         [0047]    The feature of the invention is to use the electronic system and the embedded system  103  to process and judge the acupuncture motions of the operator, and display the result on the screen of the embedded system  103 , so that the operator can understand his acupuncture skills. Furthermore, the disease symptoms and corresponding therapies can be written into the database of the embedded system  103 , so that the information of therapies can be shown on the display screen at once upon the simulation therapy procedure conducted by the operator, so as to achieve the goal of training. 
         [0048]    It is understood that various other modifications will be apparent to and can be readily made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of this invention. Accordingly, it is not intended that the scope of the claims appended hereto be limited to the description as set forth herein, but rather that the claims be construed as encompassing all the features of patentable novelty that reside in the present invention, including all features that would be treated as equivalents thereof by those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains.