Application of LIPUS for bone healing

Abstract

Therapeutic low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) has been used to enhance bone healing caused by fracture in human and animal models, and it has been well accepted in accelerating tibial fracture healing, by delivering mechanical stimulation by means of LIPUS at an intensity of 30 mW/cm2, with 200-ms pulses generated at a frequency of 1.5 MHz. For not only normal bone fracture but also for complex bone fractures in the presence of metabolic bone diseases such as diabetes mellitus (DM) and osteoporosis (OP), LIPUS might promote bone healing with increased mechanical strength and callus size together with reduced healing times. This implies that LIPUS can be a promising therapeutic tool for accelerating the fracture healing process. However, there has been still a controversy about the effects of LIPUS in human trials. Therefore, well-designed and precise clinical studies are needed to operate for further applications in tissue engineering.