{"id":2966,"date":"2021-12-08T20:43:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-08T20:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fusfoundation.org\/?post_type=sw_disease_condition&#038;p=2966"},"modified":"2026-05-13T18:53:39","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T22:53:39","slug":"tendonopathies","status":"publish","type":"sw_disease_condition","link":"https:\/\/www.fusfoundation.org\/diseases-and-conditions\/tendonopathies\/","title":{"rendered":"Tendonopathies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-focused-ultrasound-therapy\">Focused Ultrasound Therapy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Focused ultrasound is a noninvasive, therapeutic technology with the potential to improve the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients with tendon contractures. This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets deep in the brain without damaging surrounding normal tissue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How it Works<\/strong><br>Where the beams converge, focused ultrasound can make small lesions in the tendons, either by thermal ablation or by mechanical methods. When these lesions heal, there is evidence that there is improvement in the tendon function. While significant preclinical work on this is being accomplished, there is still much to be done before this technology will be widely available.<br><br><strong>Advantages<\/strong><br>The primary options for treatment of tendon contractures include medication and surgery.<br><br>For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide a noninvasive alternative to surgery with less risk of complications \u2013 such as surgical wound healing or infection \u2013 at a lower cost. It can reach the desired target without damaging surrounding tissue and is repeatable, if necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-clinical-trials\">Clinical Trials<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>At the present time, there are no clinical trials recruiting patients for focused ultrasound treatment of tendon contractures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Foundation updates these pages regularly, but with the increasing number of clinical trials, we want to be sure that our audience has the latest information available. Therefore, we also added the website search information for the above trials. If you click <a href=\"https:\/\/clinicaltrials.gov\/search?cond=Tendon%20Injuries&amp;term=focused%20ultrasound&amp;aggFilters=status:not%20rec\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>here<\/strong><\/a>, it will take you to the latest information available from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.clinicaltrials.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>https:\/\/www.clinicaltrials.gov\/<\/strong><\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-regulatory-approval-and-reimbursement-nbsp\">Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Focused ultrasound treatment for tendon contractures is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies.<br><br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fusfoundation.org\/the-technology\/research-sites\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>See here for a list of laboratory research sites.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-notable-papers\">Notable Papers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Khandare S, Smallcomb M, Elliott J, Vidt ME, Simon JC.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC10932869\/https:\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC10932869\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Focused ultrasound as an alternative to dry needling for the treatment of tendinopathies: A murine model<\/strong><\/a>. J\u00a0Orthop\u00a0Res. 2024 Mar;42(3):598-606.\u00a0doi: 10.1002\/jor.25700.\u00a0Epub\u00a02023 Oct 14. PMID: 37804211; PMCID: PMC10932869.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chu Kwan W, Partanen A, Narayanan U, Waspe AC, Drake JM. <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/38713687\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" class=\"ek-link\"><strong>Biomechanical testing of ex vivo porcine tendons following high intensity focused ultrasound thermal ablation<\/strong><\/a>. PLoS One. 2024 May 7;19(5):e0302778. doi: 10.1371\/journal.pone.0302778. eCollection 2024. PMID: 38713687\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/37743063\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Chu Kwan W, den Otter-Moore I, Partanen A, Piorkowska K, Waspe AC, Drake JM. <strong>Noninvasive\u202fmagnetic\u202fresonance-guided\u202ffocused\u202fultrasound for tendon disruption: an\u202f<em>in\u202fvivo<\/em>\u202fAnimal study.<\/strong><\/a><strong> <\/strong>Int J Hyperthermia. 2023;40(1):2260129. doi: 10.1080\/02656736.2023.2260129. Epub 2023 Sep 24. PMID:\u202f37743063&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Smallcomb M, Simon JC. <strong><a aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/36595243\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" class=\"ek-link\">High intensity focused ultrasound atomization and erosion in healthy and tendinopathic tendons<\/a><\/strong>. Phys Med Biol. 2023 Jan 5;68(2). doi: 10.1088\/1361-6560\/aca9b7. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Smallcomb M, Elliott J, Khandare S, Butt AA, Vidt ME, Simon JC.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/33891552\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Focused ultrasound mechanical disruption of ex vivo rat tendon<\/strong><\/a>. IEEE Trans Ultrason Ferroelectr Freq Control. 2021 Apr 23;PP. doi: 10.1109\/TUFFC.2021.3075375.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Khandare S, Smallcomb M, Klein B, Geary C, Simon JC, Vidt ME.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/33773298\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Comparison between dry needling and focused ultrasound on the mechanical properties of the rat Achilles tendon: A pilot study<\/strong><\/a>. J Biomech. 2021 Mar 15;120:110384. doi: 10.1016\/j.jbiomech.2021.110384.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/?term=(%22focused+ultrasound%22+OR+HIFU)+and+%22tendon%22\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Click here<\/a>&nbsp;for additional references from PubMed.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":2,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"sw_disease_condition_cat":[25],"sw_disease_condition_stage":[14],"class_list":["post-2966","sw_disease_condition","type-sw_disease_condition","status-publish","hentry","sw_disease_condition_cat-pain-relief"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - 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