Ultrasound is a sound that has a frequency greater than the upper limit of human hearing. The frequency is approximately 20,000 hertz. Most of the people associate ultrasound with pregnancy diagnostics. This may be a popular idea but ultrasound is being widely used in many other medical treatments and diagnostics like tumors, cancers, kidney stones and several others.
Medical Ultrasonography is one of the main applications of ultrasound. It is a diagnostic imaging technique that is used to visualize the internal organs. In the medical field ultrasound has some effective therapeutic applications. Treatment of benign and malignant tumors and other similar disorders is a very common feature.
A team of University of Alberta researchers has created technology to regrow teeth--the first time scientists have been able to reform human dental tissue. Using low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS), scientists have created a miniaturized system-on-a-chip that offers a non-invasive and novel way to stimulate jaw growth and dental tissue healing.
The wireless design of the ultrasound transducer means the miniscule device will be able to fit comfortably inside a patient's mouth while packed in biocompatible materials. The unit will be easily mounted on an orthodontic or "braces" bracket or even a plastic removable crown. And because the ultrasound can regrow the teeth root, a patient could have his own tooth rather than foreign objects in his mouth. If the root is broken, it can now be fixed.
The team also designed an energy sensor that will ensure the LIPUS power is reaching the target area of the teeth roots within the bone. TEC Edmonton, the U of A's exclusive tech transfer service provider, filed the first patent recently in the U.S. Currently; the research team is finishing the system-on-a-chip and hopes to complete the miniaturized device by next year.
Ultrasound is used in various applications by varying its frequency and intensity. More powerful ultrasound is used to clean teeth (in dental department) or it is used to heat up biological tissues, hence researchers have devised an effective cure for cancers through ultrasound.
After proving it worked, we looked at creating a smaller ultrasound carrier where we can take the patient out as a variable. Before this, a patient has to hold the ultrasound for 20 minutes a day for a year and that is a lot to ask.
