Shock waves in medicine

History of the use of shock waves in medicine

Shock wave on the example of the explosion of an atomic bomb

The history of extracorporeal shock wave therapy dates back to the 50s of the 20th century. During World War II, after the bombing of cities with water basins, dead people were found without external signs of damage, but their lungs and other internal organs were badly damaged. As it turned out in the course of studying this phenomenon, people died during the explosions of deep-sea shells, and at the time of death they were at a great distance from the source of the explosion.

The first inventor of the shock wave generator was Frank Reiber. In the same distant 1950s, he wanted to find a way to cure people from brain tumors without the use of surgery. His idea was to create a source (generator) of focused pressure shocks for their subsequent transmission to the human body.

The first shock wave generator

Despite the failed results of Frank Reiber's experiments, his idea of ​​implementing an acoustic wave generator turned out to be revolutionary at that time. In the course of the research, it became obvious that an artificial source of shock waves could not cure brain tumors, but the apparatus itself and invented systems for generating an acoustic wave are actively used in modern medicine.

Thirty years after the shock wave experiments, there is scientific evidence for the effectiveness of extracorporeal shock wave therapy to break up kidney stones in the human body.

Shock wave therapy, using an ultrasound pulse and extracorporeal (outside the human body) acoustic energy, focused a shock wave on a stone in the human bladder - became the world's first non-invasive method of treating urolithiasis. The first experiments were carried out by scientists on dogs, which were implanted in the kidneys of human stones.

Treatment of urolithiasis with focused shock waves

Currently, the development of shock wave therapy, in particular, focused waves, has made it possible to easily and without surgery to treat stones in the gall and bladder and salivary glands.

The development of shock wave therapy continued and by the end of the 80s and the beginning of the 90s a new direction appeared - radial shock wave therapy. This type of acoustic waves has a scattered form from the generator of their formation and, in contrast to a focused shock wave, has creative properties.

Shock wave therapy in the treatment of coronary artery disease

Once in human tissue, the radial wave is scattered. Thanks to this waveform, a completely different physical effect is achieved. Participants of the Olympiads were among the pioneers who experienced the healing properties of radial shock wave therapy. Athletes were the first to appreciate the high efficiency of the new type of shock waves in the rapid healing of various injuries received during the competition. Since then, radial shock wave therapy has become almost the only non-surgical treatment for fascial (tendon) rupture, various types of dislocations and other sports injuries.

At present, the development of shock wave therapy, in particular, focused waves, has made it possible to easily and without surgery treat stones in the gall and bladder and salivary glands.

The development of shock wave therapy continued and by the end of the 80s and the beginning of the 90s a new direction appeared - radial shock wave therapy. This type of acoustic waves has a scattered form from the generator of their formation and, in contrast to a focused shock wave, has creative properties.

Once in human tissue, the radial wave is scattered. Thanks to this waveform, a completely different physical effect is achieved. Participants of the Olympiads were among the pioneers who experienced the healing properties of radial shock wave therapy. The athletes were the first to appreciate the high efficiency of the new type of shock waves in the rapid healing of various injuries received during the competition. Since then, radial shockwave therapy has become almost the only non-surgical treatment for fascial (tendon) rupture, various types of dislocations, and other sports injuries.

Retrospective of SWT devices and their functions

Lithotripter 

At the dawn of development, shock wave therapy devices were lithotripters: a large head was used. In the nineties, doctors began to write scientific reports on the effects of shock waves in the treatment of pseudarthrosis, nonunion of bones, and humeral-scapular periarthrosis. This was the first major step in the development of shock wave therapy. The installations were small acoustic wave generators and were getting smaller every year. The attachments appeared to be rather cumbersome and were difficult to apply shock wave therapy to small joints.

As you know, in the nineties, sufficient experience was accumulated in the use of lithotripters in the removal of kidney stones. One of the first such devices were quite large and expensive. With the development of shock wave therapy and especially its engineering component, they began to get smaller and less expensive. This made it possible to significantly expand the range of applications for radial shock wave therapy units.

Richard Wolf Piezoson 100

Currently, doctors using shock wave therapy unequivocally confirm its regenerative effect. A decade of experience in the use of acoustic wave therapy, as well as experiments in this area, have proven that under the influence of a therapeutic shock wave, not only calcifications and fibrosis inside human tissues are absorbed, but also provoke the growth of new capillaries (neoangiogenesis) - for the first time in medicine!

Nowadays, thanks to these effects, shock wave therapy is successfully used in the treatment of arthrosis, hernias, osteochondrosis, calcaneal spurs, epicondylitis, periarthrosis of the shoulder scapula and many other diseases. The explosive growth of indications that relate to shock wave therapy is growing every year.

The first mobile SWT device with a focused shock wave was presented in 2000 by Richard Wolf. This installation was compact in size and cost affordable for widespread use. Its feature was undoubtedly its size - the shock wave therapy apparatus could easily fit on a regular table. The Richard Wolf Piezoson 100 was valuable in that it had a small manipulator and did not have bulky ultrasonic guidance units. To adjust the depth of the effect of the acoustic wave in human tissue, an iron rod was used, which stretched the membrane adjacent to the skin.

Gymna

Nowadays, the leaders in the production and design of shock wave therapy units are Gymna (Belgium). In 2012, they took over 60% of the global market for shock wave therapy units. This equipment is armed with more than 20 (!) Applicators that allow the shock wave to reach the deepest parts of the body, have a different waveform and combine the patented technologies of biomechanical stimulation and vibration therapy - V-Actor. The devices of this company include ultrasound modules with color Doppler, a large touch screen and, most importantly, recipes for the treatment of a specific disease related to the indication of shock wave therapy. Gymna is the only company in the world that conducts medical research on the effects of shock waves on humans and owns its own research laboratory in Europe.

Shock wave therapy on Belgian installations allows in some cases to completely avoid surgical intervention and negative effects, and the effectiveness of therapeutic shock waves reaches 98%.

An example of neoangiogenesis. The use of shock wave therapy in the treatment of coronary heart disease

What is Shockwave Therapy?

Currently, shock wave therapy in medicine is one of the highly effective methods for non-invasive treatment of ailments in various fields of medicine, ranging from cardiology in the treatment of coronary heart disease, and ending with urology and surgery in the treatment of prostatitis and diabetic foot. An important feature of shock wave therapy is not only its high efficiency, but also the fact that this method in many cases can completely replace drug treatment. If we talk about specific diseases, it is worth paying attention - shock wave therapy is already the standard for getting rid of heel spurs, “frozen” shoulder (periarthrosis of the scapula), “tennis” elbow (epicondylitis) and non-union of bone fractures. The results of SWT are manifested already at the beginning of the influence of the acoustic wave and are most pronounced by the end of the course.