Ultrasound can be used in non-invasive therapies

Recently, two research groups demonstrated the use of ultrasound-based non-invasive methods to regulate neurological activity and treat rodent models of inflammatory arthritis and hyperglycemia, and showed that this non-drugological method could be used in the future or in the treatment of inflammatory and metabolic disorders. The paper is published in Nature - Newsletter.
can be used to treat a range of diseases, including inflammation, diabetes and gastrointestinal diseases. However, the current method requires the implantation of electrodes and is limited to stimulating large nerves or nerves close to the surface of the skin.
Daniel Zachs of the University of Minnesota and colleagues found that daily non-invasive ultrasounds on the spleen of mice reduced the severity of inflammatory arthritis in mice. They also said the treatment caused changes in the B-cell and T-cell populations, and that the effectiveness of the treatment declined in animals that lacked those cells.
In another separate study using mouse and mouse models, Chris Puleo, Vicky Cottero and colleagues at GE's Global Research and Development Center in New York used non-invasive ultrasound to the spleen, reducing the inflammatory response of mice and rats to bacterial endotoxins. Inflammation relief achieved in this way is similar to that achieved with the use of implants for ecstransitic nerve stimulation (VNS). The researchers found that when ultrasound was used to target the liver, this regulatory path path is involved in regulating blood sugar levels, and its effect in suppressing high blood sugar in response to endotoxin exposure is consistent with VNS. Not only that, they also found that this response occurred only when targeted at a specific location in the liver known to contain glucose sensory neurons.
papers suggest that ultrasound stimulation is expected to replace implantable devices for diseases suitable for neuromodulation therapy. However, the potential of non-invasive ultrasound for rheumatoid arthritis needs further study and clinical trials are under way. (Source: Lu Yi, China Science Journal)
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