Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2007 Jul-Sep;42(3):425-30.

Blisters on the anterior shin in 3 research subjects after a 1-MHz, 1.5-W/cm , continuous ultrasound treatment: a case series

Jamie L Frye  1 , Lennart D Johns, James A Tom, Christopher D Ingersoll
Affiliations
Case Reports

Blisters on the anterior shin in 3 research subjects after a 1-MHz, 1.5-W/cm , continuous ultrasound treatment: a case series

Jamie L Frye et al. J Athl Train. 2007 Jul-Sep.

Abstract

Context: Clinicians should consider multiple factors when estimating tissue-heating rates.

Objective: To report 3 separate occurrences of blisters during an ultrasound treatment experiment.

Background: While we were conducting a research experiment comparing the measurement capabilities of 2 different intramuscular temperature devices, 3 female participants (age = 26.33 +/- 3.79 years, height = 169.34 +/- 3.89 cm, mass = 63.39 +/- 3.81 kg) out of 16 healthy volunteers (7 men: age = 22.83 +/- 1.17 years, height = 170.61 +/- 7.77 cm, mass = 74.62 +/- 19.24 kg; 9 women: age = 24.22 +/- 2.73 years, height = 171.88 +/- 6.35 cm, mass = 73.99 +/- 18.55 kg) developed blisters on the anterior shin after a 1-MHz, 1.5-W/cm (2) continuous ultrasound treatment delivered to the triceps surae muscle.

Differential diagnosis: Allergies; chemical reaction with cleaning agents; sunburn; negative interaction between the temperature measurement instruments and the ultrasound field; the ultrasound transducer not being calibrated properly, producing a nonuniform field and creating a hot spot or heating differently when compared with other ultrasound devices; the smaller anatomy of our female subjects; or a confounding interaction among these factors.

Treatment: Participants were given standard minor burn care by a physician.

Uniqueness: (1) The development of blisters on the anterior aspect of the shin as a result of an ultrasound treatment to the posterior aspect of the triceps surae muscle and (2) muscle tissue heating rates ranging from 0.19 degrees C to 1.1 degrees C/min, when ultrasound researchers have suggested tissue heating in the range of 0.3 degrees C/min with these settings.

Conclusions: These adverse events raise important questions regarding treatment application and potential differences in heating and quality control among different ultrasound devices from different manufacturers.

Keywords: beam nonuniformity ratio; burn; muscle heating; spatial average intensity; therapeutic modalities.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. One small blister on anterior shin, as presented by subjects 6 and 15
Figure 2
Figure 2. Multiple blisters on anterior shin, as presented by subject 16
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Draper DO, Castel JC, Castel D. Rate of temperature increase in human muscle during 1 MHz and 3 MHz continuous ultrasound. J Orthop Sport Phys Ther. 1995;22:142–150. - PubMed
    1. Draper DO. Ten mistakes commonly made with ultrasound use: current research sheds light on myths. Athl Train: Sports Health Care Perspect. 1996;2:95–107.
    1. Denegar CR, Saliba E, Saliba SF. Therapeutic Modalities for Musculoskeletal Injuries. 2nd ed. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics; 2006:178–196.
    1. Draper DO, Prentice WE. Therapeutic ultrasound. In: Prentice WE, ed. Therapeutic Modalities in Sports Medicine. 5th ed. Madison, WI: McGraw Hill; 2003:95–138 .
    1. Ashton DF, Draper DO, Myrer JW. Temperature rise in human muscle during ultrasound treatments using Flex-all as a coupling agent. J Athl Train. 1998;33:136–140. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources