The Effects of ultrasound transducer velocity on intramuscular tissue temperature across a treatment site

This purpose of this study was twofold: to determine whether ultrasound transducer velocity affected tissue temperature increase, and whether heating was uniform across the treatment site. Thermocouples were inserted 2.5cm below the skin surface at the center, edge of the ERA, and the edge of the treatment site that was the size of two times the soundhead. Each subject received three 10-minute treatments at each speed, letting tissue temperature return to baseline between treatments. Repeated measures factorial ANOVA revealed no significant differences in the speed of application and no interaction between speed and location. However, the location of the thermocouples proved to be a factor, with pairwise comparisons showing a significant difference among the 3 locations. In conclusion, the speed at which ultrasound is applied has no effect on temperature rise; however, the size of the treatment area needs to be taken into account as uniform heating does not occur