Measuring Brachial Artery Blood Flow Following a 3MHZ, 1.0 W/CM² Thermal Therapeutic Ultrasound Treatment

Abstract

Ultrasound has been suggested to be one of the most commonly used therapeutic modalities in clinical practice. One of the purported benefits of thermal ultrasound, is the ability to increase blood flow to local tissue. This benefit however, has not been sufficiently supported by current literature and research. The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a significant increase in blood flow to the brachial artery following a 3MHz thermal ultrasound at 1.0 W/cm2 treatment over the brachial artery. Blood flow was measured in time-averaged mean velocity using a diagnostic ultrasound machine prior to, and following an ultrasound treatment given at these parameters. Results indicated that thermal ultrasound delivered for 5 minutes at 3MHz and 1.0 W/cm2 has the capability of producing a statistically significant increase in blood flow (α=0.015).