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 wounds. This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasonic energy precisely and accurately on targets deep in the body without damaging surrounding normal tissue.
How it Works
Where the beams converge, focused ultrasound produces hyperthermia, which can improve the penetration of antimicrobial agents and promote a more rapid healing of the wound. Another mechanism of action is to use a device designed to treat close to the skin which has very specific healing patterns that have been established and characterized. See this link for more details.
Advantages
The primary options for treatment of wounds are debridement, medications and time, but for delayed or refractory wounds, surgery, vascular grafting and even amputations have been required if wound healing does not occur. It is also helpful to be able to predict the healing patterns that are likely to occur.
For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide a noninvasive and possibly more effective alternative to conventional wound care. Tt may help avoid surgery, grafting or other invasive options, and it can be repeated, if necessary.
Clinical Trials
At the present time, there are no clinical trials recruiting patients for focused ultrasound and wound healing treatments.
Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement
Focused ultrasound treatment for wound healing is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies.
Notable Papers
Calik J, Zawada T, Bove T, Dzięgiel P, Pogorzelska-Antkowiak A, Mackiewicz J, Woźniak B, Sauer N. Healing Process after High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Treatment of Benign Skin Lesions: Dermoscopic Analysis and Treatment Guidelines. J Clin Med. 2024 Feb 6;13(4):931. doi: 10.3390/jcm13040931. PMID: 38398246
Matula TJ, Wang YN, Khokhlova T, Leotta DF, Kucewicz J, Brayman AA, Bruce M, Maxwell AD, MacConaghy BE, Thomas G, Chernikov VP, Buravkov SV, Khokhlova VA, Richmond K, Chan K, Monsky W. Treating Porcine Abscesses with Histotripsy: A Pilot Study. Ultrasound Med Biol. 2021 Mar;47(3):603-619. doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2020.10.011. Epub 2020 Nov 26.
Wardlow R, Sahoo K, Dugat D, Malayer J, Ranjan A. High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) Heating Improves Perfusion and Antimicrobial Efficacy in Mouse Staphylococcus Abscess. Ultrasound Med Biol. January 2018. doi:10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2017.12.014.
Wilson CG, Martín-Saavedra FM, Padilla F, Fabiilli ML, Zhang M, Baez AM, Bonkowski CJ, Kripfgans OD, Voellmy R, Vilaboa N, Fowlkes JB, Franceschi RT. Patterning expression of regenerative growth factors using high intensity focused ultrasound. Tissue Eng Part C Methods. 2014 Oct;20(10):769-79. doi: 10.1089/ten.TEC.2013.0518. Epub 2014 Mar 11. PMID: 24460731
Click here for additional references from PubMed.
