ultrasound diathermy – Equine Ultrasound Therapy – EQultrasound Pro Therapy

Deep Heat After Surgery in Horses

Sat, 13 Jun 2015 09:58:52 +0000

EQultrasound Pro treatments can be started a week after surgery. At first transducer should not be applied directly on the incision area, but just on surrounding areas. After skin is completely closed and stitches removed transducer can be applied also directly on scar tissue.

Ultrasound therapy can stimulate both angiogenesis and bone morphogenetic factors; it appears to induce the differentiation of the osteoblast and promote osteogenesis. Furthermore EQ Pro therapeutic treatments reduce pain following surgery; the effects appear to be on nerve fiber conduction.

The healing process following surgery very often leaves pronounced scar tissue and adhesions, which are made of generic connective tissue, rather than specialized connective tissue. This generic connective tissue is qualitatively inferior and adheres to skin, tendons, ligaments and bone.

Hypertrophic or keloid scarring and adhesions can compromise horse performance, because they can entrap nerves causing pain and consequently limiting normal joint range of motion.

Ultrasound energy is significantly absorbed in tissues with high collagen content, like scar tissue and adhesions. Scar tissue and adhesions are denser than surrounding tissues and thus absorb more ultrasound energy, allowing selective treatments.

Acoustic non-thermal effects generated by EQ Pro Therapy pulsed emission transducers (Blue, Green, Grey and White) help softening scar tissue and adhesions, while diathermy / deep heat generated by EQ Pro Therapy continuous emission transducers (Red and Yellow) increase local vasodilation, blood flow and soft tissue extensibility.

Deep Heat and Equine Stretching

Thu, 11 Jun 2015 05:47:39 +0000

EQ Pro Therapy treatments performed with continuous emission transducers (Red Transducer and Yellow Transducer) can produce a temperature increase in deep tissues, without overheating superficial tissues.

Ultrasound energy is significantly absorbed in tissues with high collagen content (cartilage, ligaments, capsules, tendons, fascia, scar tissue and tissue interface, like bursa and synovium).

EQultrasound Pro Therapy provides the ideal means to increase the temperature of specific equine structures without overheating the skin prior to stretching exercises.

The increase of tissue temperature before active or passive stretching enhances the effects of the stretch. Preheating connective tissue before it is stretched produces a greater residual increase in tissue length with less potential for damage.

Clinical studies demonstrate that if the temperature of deep tissue structures is increased by 5° Celsius by continuous ultrasound treatment, stretching exercises should be performed within three minutes to obtain satisfactory and durable results. Stretching exercises should be maintained for 30-60 seconds to obtain permanent soft tissue elongation. Stretching exercises lasting less than 30 seconds will only produce temporary tissue elongation.

EQ Pro Diathermy / Deep Heat

Tue, 02 Jun 2015 07:45:20 +0000

Continuous emission EQ Pro transducers (Red Transducer and Yellow Transducer) can produce a significant temperature increase in deep tissues, while avoiding excessive heating of overlying tissues. Therefore EQ Pro Therapy can be used to selectively heat specific equine structures (such as joints, tendons, ligaments and muscles), without overheating skin.

Factors affecting heat depth and diffusion are:

ultrasound frequency
intensity of ultrasound emission
treatment duration
size of the area to treat
type of tissue to treat

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The higher the frequency, the greater the amount of energy absorbed by superficial tissues and consequently the more superficial the thermal effects.

This is one of the major advantages offered by EQultrasound Pro low-frequency / longwave treatment modality (38 kHz +/-2) versus traditional high frequency ultrasound devices (1-3 MHz): since EQ Pro Therapy operates at a much lower frequency than traditional high frequency devices, it can reach deeper equine tissues and structures with limited absorption by superficial tissues.

In fact ultrasound energy is attenuated when the wave propagates through biological tissues. Attenuation is the result of absorption and scattering effects. Absorption in tissue leads to the transformation of ultrasound energy into heat, and is the main component of attenuation.

The temperature induced in tissue is directly proportional to its absorption coefficient. Biological tissues with a high fluid content absorb ultrasound waves better than less hydrated tissues.

Ultrasound does not appreciably heat skin but can significantly heat deeper tissues such as joint structures, tendon, muscle, nerve, and bone. Continuous emission modality is usually employed for pathologies in the chronic phase or when heat is a desirable element (for example to increase soft tissue extensibility before active or passive stretching activities).

Heating biological tissues using EQultrasound Pro Therapy continuous mode administration induces the following physiological effects:

decrease of viscosity in fluid elements
increase of vasodilation and blood flow (which convey more oxygen and nutrients to the injured area and assist in the reduction of swelling)
increase in enzymatic activity
increase in cellular metabolic activity, accelerating oxygen consumption and removal of waste substances generated by the injury (histamine, bradykinin and prostaglandins, which contribute to sensitization of nerve fibers and pain)
stimulation of the immune system
pain relief
increase of soft tissue extensibility

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Therapeutic continuous emission ultrasound is commonly used for:

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Deep heat induced by continuous emission ultrasound stimulates tissue repair in chronic inflammatory conditions and is a valuable tool for veterinarians and equine physical therapists, since it enables them to selectively treat specific areas most often affected in sports injuries, while avoiding excessive heating of overlying skin.

Continuous emission EQ Pro Therapy transducers (Red Transducer and Yellow Transducer) are also used in the first minutes of sonophoresis treatments. In fact by minimally rising the skin surface temperature, EQ Pro Therapy continuous emission transducers increase dermal capillary vasodilation and cell membrane permeability, therefore allowing transcutaneous absorption of the medication. The acoustic pressure generated by EQ Pro Therapy promotes deep drug diffusion and absorption, therefore optimizing both pharmacokinetics and drug action.