Portable Moxibustion Robot With Intelligent Acupoint Positioning Guided by Visual Sensing.

Source: PubMed, NCBI / U.S. National Library of Medicine

To overcome key challenges in traditional moxibustion, such as the shortage of skilled practitioners, time-consuming and labour-intensive procedures, this study developed an intelligent robotic system for automated acupoint positioning and moxibustion execution. The system established a standardised acupoint coordinate map utilising DensePose-based body normalisation and statistical modelling from 50 subjects. A hybrid serial-parallel robot design enabled large workspace and high precision for bedside application. Safety was ensured by a Model Predictive Controller utilising real-time thermal feedback for dynamic distance adjustment. Experimental validation demonstrated precise spatial positioning, with mean errors ofmm (back),mm (abdomen),mm (upper limbs), andmm (lower limbs). The system responded to temperature changes within 0.25 s, limiting overshoot to below 0.8°C. This integrated robotic system provides a precise and scalable solution for automated moxibustion, particularly valuable for resource-limited clinical environments. It was an investigational clinical study, not a registrational clinical trial.