Therapeutic ultrasound in physical medicine and rehabilitation: characterization and assessment of its physical effects on joint-mimicking phantoms.

The aim of the study described here was to quantitatively assess thermal and mechanical effects of therapeutic ultrasound (US) by sonicating a joint-mimicking phantom, made of muscle-equivalent material, using clinical US equipment. The phantom contains two bone disks simulating a deep joint (treated at 1 MHz) and a superficial joint (3 MHz). Thermal probes were inserted in fixed positions.