Home Diseases and Conditions Tendon Contracture

Tendon Contracture

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Development Stage

Early Stage

Focused ultrasound research is in the laboratory phase and is not yet available for patients.

Clinical Trials

Focused ultrasound for this condition is being researched in clinical trials.

International Approval

Focused ultrasound is approved to treat this condition outside the US. Patients can seek commercial treatment at participating international sites.

FDA Approved

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved focus ultrasound for this condition. Patients can seek commercial treatment at participating sites.

Early Stage

Clinical Trials

International

FDA Approved

Focused ultrasound research for this condition is in the laboratory phase and is not yet available for patients.

Focused Ultrasound Therapy

Focused ultrasound is a noninvasive, therapeutic technology with the potential to improve the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients with tendon contractures. This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets deep in the brain without damaging surrounding normal tissue.

How it Works
Where the beams converge, focused ultrasound can make small lesions in the tendons, either by thermal ablation or by mechanical methods. When these lesions heal, there is evidence that there is improvement in the tendon function. While significant preclinical work on this is being accomplished, there is still much to be done before this technology will be widely available.

Advantages
The primary options for treatment of tendon contractures include medication and 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 tendon contractures.

The Foundation updates these pages regularly, but with the increasing number of clinical trials, we want to be sure that our audience has the latest information available. Therefore, we also added the website search information for the above trials. If you click here, it will take you to the latest information available from https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/. 

Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement 

Focused ultrasound treatment for tendon contractures is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies.

See here for a list of laboratory research sites.

Notable Papers

Chu Kwan W, Partanen A, Narayanan U, Waspe AC, Drake JM. Biomechanical testing of ex vivo porcine tendons following high intensity focused ultrasound thermal ablation. PLoS One. 2024 May 7;19(5):e0302778. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0302778. eCollection 2024. PMID: 38713687 

Chu Kwan W, den Otter-Moore I, Partanen A, Piorkowska K, Waspe AC, Drake JM. Noninvasive magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound for tendon disruption: an in vivo Animal study. Int J Hyperthermia. 2023;40(1):2260129. doi: 10.1080/02656736.2023.2260129. Epub 2023 Sep 24. PMID: 37743063 

Smallcomb M, Simon JC. High intensity focused ultrasound atomization and erosion in healthy and tendinopathic tendons. Phys Med Biol. 2023 Jan 5;68(2). doi: 10.1088/1361-6560/aca9b7.

Smallcomb M, Elliott J, Khandare S, Butt AA, Vidt ME, Simon JC. Focused ultrasound mechanical disruption of ex vivo rat tendon. IEEE Trans Ultrason Ferroelectr Freq Control. 2021 Apr 23;PP. doi: 10.1109/TUFFC.2021.3075375.

Khandare S, Smallcomb M, Klein B, Geary C, Simon JC, Vidt ME. Comparison between dry needling and focused ultrasound on the mechanical properties of the rat Achilles tendon: A pilot study. J Biomech. 2021 Mar 15;120:110384. doi: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2021.110384.

Click here for additional references from PubMed.