The Future of Laser Acupuncture-Robot-Assisted Laser Stimulation and Evaluation.

This brief contribution is part of a Special Issue entitled 'Laser Acupuncture: Past, Present and Future' and primarily deals with the future of laser acupuncture from the author's perspective. The procedure from developing the first laser to robot-assisted laser acupuncture is briefly shown. The latter has already become a reality and, in the near future, will be made accessible to a broad group of patients as a home treatment system developed by researchers from Taiwan. The new equipment is based on a smartphone with integrated artificial intelligence methods (e.g., automatic image recognition).