A Comparison of Traditional Ultrasound with, Sustained Accoustic, Medicine (SAM) | Biomedgrid

Therapeutic ultrasound is one of the most common deep heating modalities used by physical therapists, athletic trainers, and occupational therapists [1]. Its thermal effects are treatment of soft tissue injuries [2], relieving a muscle contraction [3], restoration of range of motion [4], an increase in collagen extensibility [5], aiding in collagen alignment and increased wound strength [6,7]. The non-thermal effects of ultrasound include increased histamine release [8], increased phagocytosis [9], increased protein synthesis, [10] tissue regeneration [11,12], wound healing [11], increased fibroblasts and vascular regeneration [12]. Therapeutic ultrasound uses high frequency, inaudible, acoustic vibrations to produce these thermal and non-thermal physiological effects. Unfortunately, despite its common use, therapeutic ultrasound is often misunderstood and misused. However, when used properly, it is an effective treatment method that can be applied to both normal and damaged tissue.