Chinese Researchers Unveil AI-Powered Imaging System to Visualize Acupuncture Effects

China News Service reported that a Chinese research team unveiled a new AI-enabled living mesoscopic three-dimensional microscopic imaging system named RUSH3D-HR at the 2026 World Traditional Medicine Congress in Beijing. The study captured real-time cellular dynamics in distal immune organs regulated by acupuncture in live animals for the first time, providing visual cellular evidence for traditional acupuncture therapy. Jointly developed by teams led by Academician Dai Qionghai of Tsinghua University and Professor Wang Wei of Tongji Hospital Affiliated to Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, the research was published in Nature Biotechnology. Co-first author Lu Zhi, an assistant professor at Tsinghua University, described the project as an attempt to interpret traditional medicine using modern scientific language. In an acute inflammation mouse model, the team found that applying a 0.5 milliampere electroacupuncture intervention to the Zusanli acupoint reduced neutrophil clustering events by more than 5 times. The experimental results confirmed the anti-inflammatory regulatory effects of electroacupuncture at the level of cellular dynamics. To capture these dynamic processes, the researchers developed the Kunlun objective lens featuring a large field of view and high numerical aperture, maintaining subcellular resolution across a millimeter-scale field. Integrating computational imaging and artificial intelligence algorithms enabled motion artifact correction, noise reduction, and three-dimensional reconstruction.