Focused Ultrasound Therapy
Focused ultrasound is a rapidly evolving, noninvasive, therapeutic technology with the potential to improve the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients with epicondylitis (also called tennis elbow). This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets in the body without damaging surrounding normal tissue.
How it Works
Where the beams converge, the ultrasound produces precise, small lesions that heal in a manner that helps epicondylitis resolve without surgery.
Advantages
The primary options for treatment of epicondylitis include medication and invasive surgery.
For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide a noninvasive alternative to surgery with less risk of complications – such as surgical wound healing or infection – at a lower cost. It can reach the desired target without damaging surrounding tissue and is repeatable, if necessary.
Clinical Trials
At the present time, there are no clinical trials recruiting patients for focused ultrasound treatment of epicondylitis.
Regulatory Approvals and Reimbursement
Focused ultrasound treatment for epicondylitis is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies in the US. Actisound has the CE Mark in Europe for soft tissue injuries, including epicondylitis, but in 2022 the company went out of business. No other company that we are aware of is trying to use this same approach for epicondylitis.
Notable Papers
Mast TD, Makin IR, Faidi W, Runk MM, Barthe PG, Slayton MH. Bulk ablation of soft tissue with intense ultrasound: modeling and experiments. J Acoust Soc Am. 2005 Oct;118(4):2715-24.
Click here for more references from PubMed
