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Application of focused ultrasound for research on pain
Iolo Ab Ithel Davies1, Leonid R Gavrilov, Efim M Tsirulnikov
1School of Pharmacy, The Queen's University of Belfast, Medical Biology Centre, 97 Lisburn Road,Belfast, BT9 7BL, UK Laboratory of Medical Acoustics, N.N. Andreev Acoustical Institute, Moscow V-36, 117036, Russia I.M. Sechenov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Sankt-Petersburg, 194223, Russia.
Abstract:
Short pulses of focused ultrasound can stimulate the superficial and deep-seated receptor structures of human tissues and induce different somatosensory sensations including, in particular, pain sensations. Focused ultrasound as a new artificial stimulus for inducing pain has a number of advantages related with its non-invasiveness, the possibility of the precise control of stimulus parameters and the location of its action. The experimental procedures and the results of the application of focused ultrasound as a painful stimulus in physiological research and in clinical practice are discussed. Data concerning various kinds of pain sensations, values of ultrasound thresholds of pain in different parts of the hand, as well as the discussion of the main effective factors of focused ultrasound responsible for the induction of pain, are presented in this review.