Standardization of acupuncture-moxibustion devices: challenges and solutions

The paper reviews the status quo of international, national, industry, and association standards of acupuncture-moxibustion devices and provides the suggestion and optimization from the perspective of standard system construction and industrial coordination. The current challenges include: ① Imbalanced structure in standard system: international standards outnumber domestic ones. ② Mismatched industrial demand with standard supply: traditional instrument standards lag behind industrial upgrading demands, while the absence of standards for new instruments hampers innovations. ③ Key stakeholders are underrepresented, showing the insufficient participation from enterprises as core users and weak foundational research in standardization. ④ Insufficient strategic design: there is a lack of effective coordination among competent authorities and insufficient in the top-level design for international standards. To address these issues, the systematic optimization and suggestion are proposed: ① Systematically optimizing the standard system, establishing an applicable evaluation framework, and exploring the converting mechanisms of domestic and international standards. ② In organization, deepening industry investigation and enterprise-standard collaboration while strengthening standardization promotion. ③ In strategy, improving mid-to-long term planning for international standards and focusing on key technological fields. This study aims to enhance the standard system of acupuncture-moxibustion devices, support industrial upgrading and improve international standard influence through innovative standard development methodology and collaborative governance model.