A Comparison of Traditional Ultrasound and Sustained Acoustic Medicine (SAM) Volume 2 - Issue 5

David O Draper^*

• Professor of Athletic Training/ Sports Medicine, Brigham Young University, USA

Received:March 25, 2019;   Published: March 29, 2019

Corresponding author: David O Draper, Professor of Athletic Training/ Sports Medicine, Brigham Young University, USA

DOI: 10.32474/OSMOAJ.2019.02.000148

 

Abstract PDF

Introduction

Shortly after world war II therapeutic ultrasound was developed to treat musculoskeletal injuries (Figure 1). In 2008 doctoral student George Lewis gets literally “shocked” at the Cornel Lab. Shortly after that he invents and patents, a low voltage, low impedance, portable, wearable, rechargeable ultrasound device. At a meeting of doctoral students at Cornel where students would present their doctoral studies Lewis said, his ultrasound device would “change the world”. Thus, Sustained Acoustic Medicine (SAM) Figure 2 was released to the public. Today, 2019 the device is used by several universities, hockey, basketball, football and baseball professional sports teams, and by US government healthcare agencies.

Research on SAM

a. There have been several research studies on SAM. It has been found to:

b. Increase human muscle temperature 54C at 1.5cm deep and 3-4 C at 3cm deep.

c. It has been found to decrease pain in subjects with tendinopathy, all symptoms of inflammation, and even assisted in bone growth.

d. It has been found to restore lost muscle function in subjects, and improve grip strength.

e. It has been shown to significantly improve joint function and reduce pain of patients with knee osteoarthritis in multiple placebo-controlled studies.

f. In 2014 the SAM was tested in subjects with chronic trapezius pain. This was a double-blind study performed on 33 patients. The office that makes SAM recorded the serial number on each device. They then shipped 33 devices to my lab at Brigham Young University. Each device was numbered before it shipped. Each device and randomly assigned to each subject.

Thus 8 students received the sham and 25 subjects received the actual treatment. The active treatment group decreased pain significantly better than the sham group (p< 0.001).

Comparison of Traditional Therapeutic Ultrasound with SAM

Conclusion

As can be seen, the SAM has many advantages over typical ultrasound, including being small and portable. Physical and occupational therapists and athletic trainer should consider using it for their patients.