Dr Chuan Seng Koh was born and educated in Singapore before travelling to Australia to study medicine at Monash University in Melbourne.  Following his graduation in 1968, he returned to Singapore where he furthered his medical training at teaching hospitals in the Republic. He worked in various specialty departments, gaining experience in general surgery, internal medicine, otorhinolaryngology, obstetrics and gynaecology, orthopaedic surgery and emergency medicine.  His clinical interest was orthopaedic surgery, and he held a position in this specialty as surgical trainee for several years.

In 1974, Dr Koh returned to Australia with his family and commenced general practice in Western Australia. He spent the next seven years in rural practice as a solo GP, six in the northern wheat belt town of Three Springs, where he also served as medical officer for the North Midlands District Hospital. In 1981, he moved to Perth where he commenced general practice in Dianella.

During his last years in the country, Dr Koh developed a keen interest in acupuncture which he pursued with vigour upon arriving in Perth. While impressed with the many advantages of light-stimulated acupuncture, he was also intrigued with the inconsistency of results compared to needle acupuncture. He looked into the effectiveness of various alternative modes of stimulating acupuncture points, including ultrasonic, magnetic and various transcutaneous electrical devices. In addition, he explored light emissions of different wavelengths, both in the infra-red as well as in the visible frequencies. He developed laser probes with multiple outlets as well as pulsed light-emitting devices in his search for better outcomes.

Dr Koh has more than 25 years experience in acupuncture. In the past 20 years the dominant part of his general practice has been in this field, where he has cultivated a special interest in light-stimulated acupuncture. He currently uses a device of his own design which pulses light at different frequencies. He has found that treatment outcomes using this instrument are excellent, and as reliable and consistent as needle acupuncture, but without the disadvantages of the latter.

Aggravation of symptoms in acupuncture is rarely mentioned in traditional acupuncture texts. Not much is known about the nature of this response and little information is available in current medical literature. Dr Koh examined this phenomenon closely and was able to define key features of this unusual reaction. He found that transient aggravation of symptoms occurs in a sub-group of people, comprising approximately 5% of the population. This paradoxical reaction is indicative of an exaggerated response to treatment, and occurs only in people who are very reactive to acupuncture.

The reaction is inevitably followed by an improvement in symptoms. This is always more prolonged when compared to the response time of the average person. Dr Koh subsequently defined other features of this unusual response and was able to discern smaller groups within this group of people who respond paradoxically. With the device he now uses he is able to fine-tune therapy for each group so that positive responses can be produced consistently with little or no aggravation of symptoms.