More and more oriental medicine practitioners are adopting ultrasound diagnostic devices.

The trend has become even more visible since the Supreme Court ruling that allowed the use of ultrasound diagnostic devices by oriental medicine doctors. Related medical device manufacturers also explore the new market actively.

Since the Supreme Court ruling in December 2022, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of oriental medicine clinics that advertise online that they make the most of ultrasound diagnostic devices in their treatments.

The ultrasound diagnostic devices these clinics purchased include GE's LOGIQ P9, Voluson S6, Versana active, S6 volusion, and Vscan air, a portable wireless ultrasound diagnostic device.

LOGIQ P9 is a general-purpose product used for diagnosis in various fields, including abdominal and cardiac ultrasound. Voluson S6 is mainly used for detailed examination of the uterus, ovaries, and fetus. However, oriental medicine clinics mainly use it to guide acupuncture procedures and to diagnose some internal medicine diseases.

An oriental medicine clinic director, who introduces himself as an "oriental doctor who reads ultrasound," said on his website that he newly introduced LOGIQ E9 in January this year to "make the most of ultrasound diagnosis for everything from musculoskeletal diseases to internal medicine, growth clinics, and diets.”

Another oriental medicine clinic that introduced Vsersana active said in a blog, "The 'needle recognition' technology, which automatically recognizes and highlights the needle, enables quick and accurate procedures with less patient discomfort during acupuncture,” explaining that he uses it to ensure safety and effectiveness.

Another practitioner who purchased LOGIQ P9 said, "I use it a lot when performing procedures in dangerous areas around the neck to ensure that the procedure is performed in a safe place. I use it for diagnosis and identifying diseases that cannot be identified by medical examination alone."

Some prefer medical ultrasound machine to ‘acupoint ultrasound diagnostics’

Some oriental medicine doctors preferred medical ultrasound devices to the acupoint ultrasound diagnostic device developed by the Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine to guide acupuncture procedures.

In 2022, the institute developed AcuViz, an acupuncture point ultrasound diagnostic device that uses a magnetic field to track the expected trajectory of acupuncture needles before they are inserted and guide them to the correct location.

Since then, many oriental medicine clinics have used the device for acupuncture procedures, such as medicinal acupuncture and moxibustion. However, after the Supreme Court ruling allowed the use of ultrasound diagnostic devices by oriental medicine doctors, more and more oriental medicine doctors are introducing medical ultrasound diagnostic devices.

"Ultrasound diagnostic devices are cheaper than acupoint ultrasound devices," an official from the oriental medicine industry said in a phone interview with Korea Biomedical Review on Wednesday. "Since the Supreme Court ruling, oriental medicine practitioners have broader options."

Medical device companies have also rolled up their sleeves to explore new revenue avenues, with some saying "all domestic medical device companies have jumped in the fray.”

“When I looked around the exhibition booths of Philips, GE, and Samsung, I was not approached for sales purposes, but after the Supreme Court ruling, they were active in sales to oriental medicine doctors," an oriental medicine practitioner who visited KIMES (Korea International Medical and Hospital Equipment Show 2023 commented on YouTube,

The Association of Korean Medicine (AKM) also focuses on follow-up work to get health insurance coverage for the use of ultrasound diagnostic devices by oriental medicine doctors after the Supreme Court ruling, with the Korean Medical Imaging Association continuing education for revitalizing the use of ultrasound diagnostic devices.

"Since the Supreme Court ruling, the number of oriental medicine practitioners using ultrasound diagnostic devices has exploded," said Moon Young-chun, director of planning at AKM. "We are finalizing a research to set a definition of behavior for the use of ultrasound diagnostic devices by oriental medicine practitioners. After applying for hospitals’ discretionary pricing without reimbursement, we are preparing to enter the institutionalized coverage step by step."

Stressing that the environment for accurate and safe medical treatment for public health has been prepared, Moon said, "We will also pay attention to education (on the use of ultrasound diagnostic devices) to provide advanced treatment."

However, the medical community has kept expressing concerns about the use of ultrasound diagnostic devices by oriental medicine practitioners.

"Aside from high-end equipment medical device companies, various companies make various ultrasound diagnostic devices, many of which are somewhat inferior in quality," said Professor Jung Seung-eun of the Catholic University of Korea Eunpyeong St. Mary's Hospital, the next president of the Korean Society of Radiology. "Excessive sales competition is also a problem. It will lead to bad money driving out good money.”

Acknowledging that the device itself may be harmless, Jung expressed concern about the risk of misdiagnosis by, for instance, failing to detect endometrial cancer.

"In addition, we need to think about issues, such as overdiagnosis and unnecessary medical expenses resulting from it," Professor Jung added.