Therapeutic Ultrasound

Ultra-sound ideas, ultra-sound future

Ultrasound is a sound with a frequency higher than what humans can hear, generally above 20 kilohertz. Use of ultrasound in diagnostic imaging (medical ultrasonography) has become well accepted not only due to its wide array of applications and low cost, but also of its perceived safety. The ultrasound used in diagnosis is called Diagnostic Ultrasound, in contrast to the more recent application of ultrasound for therapy, or the Therapeutic Ultrasound. For therapy, High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) concentrates the power of ultrasound into its focal volume to destroy deep-seated tissue (such as prostate cancer, benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), breast cancer, uterine fibroid). While the effects of low intensity ultrasound is also being investigated for a wide array of potential therapeutic applications (see publications by L. Feril). Low intensity ultrasound is being applied for fracture and wound healing, in sonodynamic therapy against cancers, in sonotransfection for cancer gene therapy, in apoptosis induction for cancer therapy, in thrombolysis, and in the treatment of atherosclerosis.