Frank H. Krusen

Ultrasound and Medicine (A Survey of Experimental Studies)

Experimental investigations indicate that ultrasound may prove useful for therapy, for diagnosis, and for biologic measurement.Ultrasound, although it may be dangerous in unskilled hands, is an excellent agent for the structural heating of living tissues. The term “structural heating” is used to denote heating at abrupt interfaces.The living organism presents numerous abrupt interfaces.Ultrasound promises to become a reliable diagnostic tool. Either the transmitted or the reflected ultrasonic energy can be used in this application. Tumors, gallstones, kidney stones, stones in the salivary glands, foreign bodies, and abnormal collections of fluid have been located accurately.Preliminary observations on the use of ultrasound for certain biologic measurements are encouraging. Instrumentation for biologic measurement includes ultrasonic flowmeters, devices for measuring thickness of some tissue structures, and equipment for measuring the viscosity of blood.

Short wave diathermy in industrial rehabilitation

I N the treatment of those disabled in industry short wave diathermy has to a certain extent been overemphasized in the past few years. It shouId be remembered that, in the Iight of present-day investigations, the onIy effects obtainabIe from appIications of short wave diathermy are those produced by fairIy deep heating of the tissue. WhiIe one shouId not become over-enthusiastic concerning the vaIue of short wave diathermy, on the other hand one shouId not minimize the extreme vaIue of deep IocaI heating in the treatment of certain types of industrial injuries. According to Sir John Simon,‘” measures, whether voIuntary or compuIsory, for the prevention of industria1 disease and iI heaIth depend primariIy on the knowIedge, skiI1, and co6peration of the medica profession. I have previousIy pointed out that the chief sphere of usefulness of physica therapy in industria1 injuries Iies in the treatment of the Iarge group of patients who have suffered from trauma to bones, joints, muscles, nerves, or skin, as we11 as in the hastening of restoration of articuIar function.zO The proper appIication of short wave diathermy by the skiIIed surgeon is one of the most important means of hastening rehabiIitation in cases of industria1 injuries.

Ultrasonics and Medicine

Many therapeutic procedures have been introduced into the art and science of medical practice empirically by a method of trial and error. Such a method has marked limitations and may produce unfavorable consequences. The facilities available in experimental medicine permit a thorough and extensive investigation of biological effects of many therapeutic agents or procedures before any clinical application is made. Optimal doses of the therapeutic agent can be approximated and a comparative study of various technics designed for clinical application can be made. Unfortunately ultrasound was used clinically by certain enthusiastic therapeutists before a thorough study of its biologic effects was completed. These therapeutists regarded the major biologic effect of ultrasonic energy to be mechanical. They were aware of a heating effect, but considered that it played a minor role. Experimental measurements have shown clearly that the major effect of ultrasound on living tissues is thermal when an intensity suit...

Massage, Manipulation and Traction

This book continues the excellent series dealing with various phases of physical medicine. It is a valuable addition to the Licht Physical Medicine Library. This text adds 14 more authors to the 90 who have contributed to this growing library, and once more Licht has gathered his contributors from various parts of the world. In this volume there are contributors from Germany, England, Switzerland, France, and the United States. It is pointed out that the subject matter of this volume is thousands of years old, and that since its inception, it has been, at times, praised to the sky by its supporters and, at other times, calumniated by its detractors. Licht, as usual, does not hesitate to present descriptions of methods that are of a controversial nature, and he leaves the intelligent reader to draw his own conclusions. For example, this volume includes a discussion of methods that interest certain