# US 6,296,652 B1 · Drug-withdrawal-syndrome auricle-therapeutic device > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 6,296,652 B1 - Document ID: US6296652B1 - Status: Granted - Kind: B1 - Application number: 09/320,242 - Filed: 1999-05-26 - Granted: 2001-10-02 - Earliest claimed: 1998-05-26 - Inventors: Wu Qingmin - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US6296652B1 ## CPC - A61H 39/08: Devices for applying needles to such points, i.e. for acupuncture {; Acupuncture needles or accessories therefor} - A61H: PHYSICAL THERAPY APPARATUS, e.g. DEVICES FOR LOCATING OR STIMULATING REFLEX POINTS IN THE BODY; ARTIFICIAL RESPIRATION; MASSAGE; BATHING DEVICES FOR SPECIAL THERAPEUTIC OR HYGIENIC PURPOSES OR SPECIFIC PARTS OF THE BODY (electrotherapy, magnetotherapy, radiation therapy or ultrasound therapy A61N) ## Abstract A device for treating the undesirable symptoms resulting from cessation of habitual drug use, which can include insomnia, anxiety, tremors, loss of appetite, drowsiness, nausea, and sweating, and for reducing the rate of recurrence of drug use following treatment through the use of a programmed series of acupuncture, massage, and/or moxibustion treatments of acupuncture points in a subject's ear(s). The device includes a housing that conforms to the contour of a human ear containing a plurality of acupuncture needles held in an elastomeric structure and connected to a movable elongate member such that the plurality of needles may be brought into intermittent contact with the inner surface of the ear with an approximately equal force. The device further includes a control circuit adapted to automatically control the application of acupuncture stimulating current, moxibustion, and/or massage in a programmable manner. The device allows a user to program a treatment regimen into the device, removably affix the device adjacent at least one of a subject's ears, and provide the programmed acupuncture, moxibustion, and/or massage treatments to a plurality of known acupuncture points on the inner surface of the subject's ear(s). In one embodiment, the acupuncture needles are made of a permanently magnetic material to include an auxiliary magnetic treatment. In an alternative embodiment, the device also includes a vocal and/or musical sound generating component as additional therapy. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A drug-withdrawal-syndrome auricle-therapeutic device comprising: a controller including a CPU having I/O terminals, a data memory, a control logic circuit, and a display; an ear acupressure point-treating unit, wherein the ear acupressure point-treating unit includes an ear-like frame, a plurality of acupressure point electrode needles, an electrode needle control mechanism, and a housing, the ear-like frame having a solid body profiling a human ear with a plurality of through-going holes at locations corresponding to standard acupressure points of a human ear, the electrode needles extending through the holes to thereby be automatically positioned adjacent the standard acupressure points so as to provide therapeutic acupressure current to the acupressure points selectively provided by the controller, a first end of the electrode needles being electrically connected to the controller which is located outside the housing, the ear-like frame being connected to a first end of the housing and protruding beyond the first end of the housing; a voice prompting circuit and a background music circuit connected to the CPU via the I/O terminals to provide auxiliary auditory treatment via included sound generating devices; and an electrode needle control mechanism including an elastomer, a vibrating head, a push rod, and a spring, the electrode needle control mechanism being located at a second end of the housing, opposite to the ear-like frame wherein the I/O terminals of the CPU of the controller are connected to an impulse output circuit and a circuit for providing at least one of a massage, acupressure, auditory, or moxibustion treatment, commutation logic circuit, an output of the impulse output circuit being connected to pairs of different point electrode needles and the vibrating head via an output transformer, an output of a switching logic circuit synchronously controlling the output of the impulse output circuit and of the secondary output of the transformer in order to select a treatment mode for at least one of the electrode needle pairs and the vibrating head, wherein the device provides a programmable sequence of at least one of an acupressure, massage, auditory, or moxibustion treatment to at least one pair of acupressure points located on the inner surface of at least one of a subject's ears. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The drug-withdrawal-syndrome auricle-therapeutic device of claim 1, wherein the at least one pair of acupressure points comprises corresponding points located on opposite ears. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The drug-withdrawal-syndrome auricle-therapeutic device of claim 2, wherein the elastomer in said control mechanism of the electrode needles is located within a cavity within the ear-like frame, the elastomer having a profile which corresponds with the cavity, the elastomer having a first face which secures a first end of corresponding point electrode needles in the through-going holes of the ear-like frame, the vibrating head and a first end of the push rod being connected to a second face of said elastomer opposite the first face, wherein the lead of the vibrating head extends out of the housing to connect to the controller, and wherein a second end of the push rod protrudes outside of the rear of the housing with a spring resiliently urging the push rod toward the elastomer. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The drug-withdrawal-syndrome auricle-therapeutic device of claim 3, wherein the cavity within the ear-like frame has a profile which has a protruding first face which corresponds to the shape of a front face of a human ear, so that the first face of the elastomer conforms to a human ear to ensure that the elastomer exerts an approximately equal load force on the first ends of respective point electrode needles to thereby cause second ends of the point electrode needles to bear on a subject's ear(s) with an approximately equal load force. ### Claim 5 (depends on 2) The drug-withdrawal-syndrome auricle-therapeutic device of claim 2, wherein the impulse output circuit comprises a photoelectric coupled circuit, a switching circuit, a differential circuit, and an emitter-follower, the photoelectric coupler circuit including inverter U7C, resistor R1 and photo coupler O3, the switching circuit including resistor R2, potentiometers W2, W3 and normally open contacts J1a, J2a of relays J1, J2, the differential circuit including capacitor C5 and resistor R7, the emitter-follower circuit including transistor T, resistors R4, R8 and capacitors C7, C8, an input of inverter U7C in the photoelectric coupled circuit being connected to corresponding I/O terminals of the CPU, an output of inverter U7C being connected to an input of photo coupler O3 via resistor R1, an output of the photo coupler O3 being connected to a terminal of two paralleled potentiometers W2, W3 in the switching circuit via resistor R2, with another terminal of W1 and W2 being grounded, with intermediate adjusting terminals of W2, W3 via normally open contacts J1a, J2a of relays J1, J2 respectively, being connected to an input of the differential circuit through a terminal of capacitor C5, and with an output of the differential circuit running from a node of capacitor C5 and resistor R7 to a base input of emitter-follower T, and with an output terminal of emitter-follower T being connected to a primary coil of transformer TR, the secondary coil of transformer TR having multiple winding outputs one of which is connected to the vibrating head via normally open contact J1b of relay J1; and with the other(s) winding outputs being connected to the respective electrode needles via normally open contact J2b of relay J2. ### Claim 6 (depends on 2) The drug-withdrawal-syndrome auricle-therapeutic device of claim 2, wherein the massage, acupressure, auditory, and moxibustion switching logic circuit further comprises inverters U7D, U7E, photo couplers O1, O2, transistors T1, T2, relays J1, J2, diodes D1, D2 and resistors R14-R19, and wherein inputs of inverters U7D, U7E are connected to corresponding I/O terminals of CPU U1, respectively, with outputs of the inverters being connected to their respective inputs of photo couplers O1, O2 via resistors R18, R19, respectively, and with outputs of O1 and O2 being connected to base inputs of their respective transistors T1, T2 via resistors R15, R14, respectively, and with collector outputs of T1, T2 connecting their respective relays J1, J2, respectively, wherein relays J1 and J2 synchronously control a working state of the switching circuit in the impulse output circuit and output state of the secondary output of transformer TR by the normally open contacts J1a, J2a, J1b, J2b. ### Claim 7 (depends on 2) The drug-withdrawal-syndrome auricle-therapeutic device of claim 2, wherein the I/O terminals of the CPU are connected to respective speakers B1, B2 via a voice integrated circuit block U8 and a music integrated circuit block U9 to implement auxiliary vocal and music treatment. ### Claim 8 (depends on 2) The drug-withdrawal-syndrome auricle-therapeutic device of claim 2, wherein the point electrode needles are made of magnetic needles, the needles having tips coated by a conductive antianaphylactic material.