title: Neuropathic tissue responds preferentially to stimulation by intense focused ultrasound.
abstract: We tested the hypothesis that neuropathic tissue is more sensitive to stimulation by intense focused ultrasound (iFU) than control tissue. We created a diffusely neuropathic paw in rats via partial ligation of the sciatic nerve, whose sensitivity to iFU stimulation we compared with sham-surgery and normal control paws. We then applied increasing amounts of iFU (individual 0.2 s pulses at 1.15 MHz) to the rats' paws, assaying for their reliable withdrawal from that stimulation. Neuropathic rats preferentially withdrew their injured paw from iFU at smaller values of iFU intensity (84.2 W/cm(2) ± 25.5) than did sham surgery (97.7 W/cm(2) ± 11.9) and normal control (> 223 W/cm(2)) animals, with greater sensitivity and specificity (85% for neuropathic rats and 50% each of sham surgery and normal control rats). These results directly support our hypothesis as well as Gavrilov's idea that doctors may some day use iFU stimulation to diagnose patients with neuropathies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
authors.forename: Rowen E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Tych
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gofeld
authors.forename: Jeffrey G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Jarvik
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kliot
authors.forename: John D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Loeser
authors.forename: Abbi M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: McClintic
authors.forename: Ryan J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Ollos
authors.forename: Kristin D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Pederson
authors.forename: Rachel E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Sparks
authors.forename: Gregory W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Terman
authors.forename: Pierre D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Mourad
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006614:Hindlimb; D006358:Hot Temperature; D008027:Light; D009437:Neuralgia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D017288:Pain Threshold; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012584:Sciatic Nerve; D014465:Ultrasonics