The Extract, a Home Automatic Herbal Medicine Decoction Machine and Herbal Decoction Room in Korean Medicine Clinic: History of Technological changes related to the Administration of Korean Herbal Medicine from the mid-1960s to the early 1990s

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the history of technological changes related to the administration of herbal medicine (hereinafter HM) from the mid-1960s to the early 1990s.Methods: In this study, the contents were extracted from the articles, news and commercial advertisement of academic journals, specialized journals and daily newspapers.Results: 1. The extracts, developed in 1966, were a strategy adopted by Korean medicine community to make HM intake more convenient as well as to eradicate the stigma attached to Korean medicine as “unscientific” and “pre-modern.” 2. The home appliance industry established a sales strategy for home automatic HM decoction machine (hereinafter HAHMDM) targeting office workers who want to take HM but find it inconvenient and difficult to decoct HM because of long working hours. 3. The final solution to solve the administration of the HM was the herbal decoction room in Korean medicine clinic (hereinafter HDEIKMC) equipped with the Medicinal Herb Extractor (hereinafter MHE) that decocts 10-day doses at a time and an Automatic Packaging Machine (hereinafter APM) that packages each single dose of decoction to prevent spoilage.Conclusions: The history of technological changes related to the administration of Korean HM from the mid-1960s to the early 1990s started with extract, passed through a HAHMDM and ended in HDEIKMC equipped with MHE and APM.