A review of therapeutic ultrasound: Biophysical effects

Almost 2 decades ago, it was pointed out that physical therapists tended to overlook the tenuous nature of the scientific basis for the use of therape utic ultrasound. The purpose of this review is to examine the literature re garding the biophysical effects of therapeutic ultrasound to determine whet her these effects may be considered sufficient to provide a reason (biologi cal rationale) for the use of insonation for the treatment of people with p ain and soft tissue injury. This review does not discuss articles that exam ined the clinical usefulness of ultrasound (see article by Robertson and Ba ker titled "A Review of Therapeutic Ultrasound: Effectiveness Studies" in t his issue). The frequently described biophysical effects of ultrasound eith er do not occur in vivo under therapeutic conditions or have not been prove n to have a clinical effect under these conditions. This review reveals tha t there is currently insufficient biophysical. evidence to provide a scient ific foundation for the clinical use of therapeutic ultrasound for the trea tment of people with pain and soft tissue injury.