Since metal needle had replaced stone needle, little innovation took place in acupuncture theory Needle is a tool that needs to be innovated. The event that metal needle replaced stone needle was first remarkable progress. The metal needle should be replaced by more advanced tool. The mechanism that acupuncture being efficacious for diseases lies in the conduction of electric information along the meridian, which is caused by action potential of cells induced by stimulation of the needle, and the electric potential difference between metal needle and surface of tissue fluid. And these factors effect clearing meridians and activating collateral. Thus I propose that metal needles is replaced by electric information. According to description of The Yellow Emperor's Inner Classics, meridian & collateral are like subway. Meridians are like rails and acupoints are like stations. Collaterals are 1ike the passage linking the rail and the ground. Just as we call the opening of the subway entrance or exit, the opening on the skin that the collateral leads to opening of meridian. The opening related to morbidity could be called opening of morbid meridian. The author holds that meridian & collateral system is an electric information system, so the opening of meridian should have good conductance. The author's finding is that one of the characters of opening of morbid meridian is the variability of its skin resistance, Which is very like to fluctuate. The author calls such point variable resistance point. According to electric characters of opening of meridian and that of opening of morbid meridian, these openings can be detected by means of electronics. Scientific experiments have proved that variable resistance point is opening of morbid meridian, whose location is associated with certain disease and is a subsidiary reference to diagnosis. The waveforms of variable resistance point are different, which may suggest different diseases and thus may be taken as another diagnostic index. Opening of morbid meridian is the best position to exert curative electric information. The curative electric information will pass in this way: Electric information-Opening of morbid meridian- Tertiary collateral - Collateral - Crossing - Meridian - Viscera. The author trade a special name, Diagnosis and Treatment Based on Electric Information on Opening of Meridian, for this method of drawing diagnostic information from opening of morbid meridian and putting electromagnetic information into the same opening. This method could replace acupuncture of inserting metal needle into acupoints. The author also invented a specific instrument to implement this kind of treatment, which is called Opening of Meridian Electric Information Diagnostic & Curative Instrument. When we detect the opening of morbid meridian with this instrument, it can be switched on to produce curative electromagnetic information for the treatmen1. Stone needle treatment, acupuncture & moxibustion and Diagnosis and Treatment Based on Electric Information on Opening of Meridian are called Meridian & Collateral Medicine by the author. They represent different stages of the development of Meridian & collateral Medicine. Clinical practice on over 30,000 patients of nearly 200 diseases proved that this method takes effect on organic diseases such as cerebroma, gallstone and kidney stone. The effect on infantile diarrhea and abdominal pain indicates that this instrument is not a placebo;. Doesn't hurt the skin and is easily spread.

　　By Zhong Xinhuai.
　　Beijing Oriental Lingshu Meridian & Collateral Medical Institute, China.