DESIGN AND EVALUATION OF A WEARABLE SELF-APPLIED THERAPEUTIC ULTRASOUND DEVICE FOR CHRONIC MYOFASCIAL PAIN

作者：Lewis George K Jr^*; Langer Matthew D; Henderson Charles R Jr; Ortiz Ralph

来源：Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology, 2013, 39(8): 1429-1439.

DOI：10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2013.03.007

• Low-intensity therapeutic ultrasound
• Wearable ultrasound device
• Pain management
• Physiotherapy
• Clinical study
• Outpatient setting
• Myofascial pain
• Pain management
• Therapeutic ultrasound device

Ultrasound therapy for pain and healing is a versatile treatment modality for musculoskeletal conditions that is used daily in rehabilitation clinics around the world. Our group designed and constructed a wearable, battery-operated, low-intensity therapeutic ultrasound (LITUS) device that patients could self-apply and operate during daily activity for up to 6 h. Thirty patients with chronic trapezius myofascial pain evaluated the LITUS system in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, 10-d study under institutional review board approval. While continuing their prescribed medication regimen, patients with the active device reported on average 1.94x reduction in pain and 1.58x improvement in health relative to placebo devices after 1 h of treatment. Both of these results were statistically significant (p < 0.05) for the first 2 d of the study. Male patients reported the majority of benefit, and there is a sex-treatment confound in the sample. The study indicates that wearable, long-duration LITUS technology improves mobile access to drug-free pain relief. (E-mail: george@zetroz.

• 出版日期2013-8