Method and system for treatment with acoustic shock waves

Details Method and system for treatment with acoustic shock waves Method and system for treatment with acoustic shock waves

1998-07-22

2001-01-23

Smith, Ruth S. (Department: 3737)

Surgery: kinesitherapy

Kinesitherapy

Ultrasonic

C601S004000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06176839

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method for treating a target area inside the body of a human being or animal with acoustic shock waves and to a system for implementing this method.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Acoustic shock waves are used in medicine for various indications. It is known that tumors and bodily secretions, such as gallstones, can be destroyed by acoustic shock waves. It is also known that the formation of new bone tissue can be induced and promoted by shock waves. Finally, shock waves are also used for pain therapy.
In all these applications, the shock waves act on a target area inside the body. For this purpose it is necessary for the shock waves, which are generated outside the body, to pass through body tissue to arrive at the target area and be focussed on this area. Depending on the type of treatment, it is intended and desired that the shock waves act with a greater or lesser degree of effectiveness in the target area. The body tissue through which the shock waves pass on their way to the target area, however, should interact as little as possible with the shock waves, because such interaction can lead to undesirable damage to this body tissue.
So far, damage to the body tissue located outside the target area has been minimized essentially by focussing the shock waves. The shock waves passing through the body tissue outside the target area thus have a relatively low energy density, whereas the density of the shock waves in the target areas increased by focussing.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention is based on the task of making available a method and device by means of which, in the treatment of target areas with shockwaves located inside the body, the damage to body tissue outside the target area can be reduced.
The invention is based on the realization that the effects of acoustic shock waves are reduced when the substance on which the shock waves are acting is put under a positive pressure. It has also been discovered that even a relatively small amount of positive pressure significantly reduces the effects of shock waves on the soft tissues of human beings and animals, whereas the effectiveness of the shock waves on bodily concretions, bone, and cartilage is only very slightly reduced by such small amounts of positive pressure and begins to decline significantly only at relatively high positive pressures.
The invention takes advantage of this realization by providing that, during the treatment with acoustic shock waves, a positive pressure is exerted on the tissue through which the shock waves must pass on their way to the target area. As a result, the effect of the shock waves on this body tissue is reduced, and damage to the body tissue by the shock waves passing through can be minimized.
Because the target area in which the shock waves are to exert their effects is usually surrounded by body tissue, it is usually impossible to exert positive pressure on the tissue located outside the target area without at the same time exerting some positive pressure on the target area as well. Because the positive pressure therefore usually acts both on the body tissue penetrated by the shock waves and on the target area, the range of positive pressures used is preferably selected in such a way that the interaction between the shock waves and the soft tissue is decreased to a very low value, whereas the interaction between the shock waves and the tissue of the target area is only slightly reduced. This range of positive pressures is to be found at approximately 30 kPa to 1 MPa above the surrounding air pressure. The best results are obtained in a range of positive pressures extending from approximately 100 to 400 kPa. In this pressure range, there is minimal interaction between the shock waves and the soft tissue, but the interaction between the shock waves and the concretions, bone, or cartilage in the target area is still high and does not begin to decrease significantly until the pressure is increased beyond this range.
In the treatment of soft tissue with shock waves, e.g., in the treatment of soft tissue pain in orthopedic medicine, positive pressure can also have the effect of decreasing the occurrence of damage in the target area which exceeds the desired positive effect of the shock waves.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5209221 (1993-05-01), Riedlinger

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