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Muscle and Tendon Heating Rates with Therapeutic Ultrasound in Horses
Author(s) -
Montgomery Leslie,
Elliott Sarah B.,
Adair H. Steve
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
veterinary surgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.652
H-Index - 79
eISSN - 1532-950X
pISSN - 0161-3499
DOI - 10.1111/j.1532-950x.2013.01099.x
Subject(s) - therapeutic ultrasound , medicine , ultrasound , tendon , intensity (physics) , thermistor , biomedical engineering , nuclear medicine , anatomy , radiology , physics , quantum mechanics , electrical engineering , engineering
Objective To (1) determine the temperature change in equine tendon and muscle during therapeutic ultrasound and (2) develop guidelines for treating horses for muscular or tendinous injury using therapeutic ultrasound. Study Design Experimental, in vivo study. Animals Adult horses (n = 10). Methods Thermistors were inserted in the superficial and deep digital flexor tendons (SDFT and DDFT) of the thoracic limbs of 10 adult horses. On the left, 3.3 MHz therapeutic continuous ultrasound was done for 10 minutes at an intensity of 1.0 W/cm 2 and for the right thoracic limb at 1.5 W/cm 2 . Thermistors were placed at 1 cm, 4 cm, and 8 cm depths in the epaxial muscles of the same 10 horses, for a 20‐minute treatment at a frequency of 3.3 MHz and intensity of 1.5 W/cm 2 . Temperature was recorded before, during, and after treatment. Data were statistically analyzed. Results Mean temperature rise was 3.5°C in the SDFT and 2.5°C in the DDFT at the end of the 1.0 W/cm 2 treatment ( P = .94) and 5.2°C in the SDFT and 3.0°C in the DDFT at the end of the 1.5‐W/cm 2 treatment ( P = .48). Mean temperature rise in epaxial musculature was 1.3°C at a depth of 1.0 cm, 0.7°C at 4.0 cm, and 0.7°C at 8 cm. Conclusions The SDFT and DDFT are heated to a therapeutic temperature using a frequency of 3.3 MHz and intensity of 1.0 W/cm 2 . The epaxial muscles are not heated to a therapeutic temperature using a frequency of 3.3 MHz and an intensity of 1.5 W/cm 2 .