Thunder Bay Regional Research Institute.
J Pharm Pharm Sci. 2014;17(1):136-53. doi: 10.18433/j3zp5f.
Ultrasonography is a safe, inexpensive and wide-spread diagnostic tool capable of producing real-time non-invasive images without significant biological effects. However, the propagation of higher energy, intensity and frequency ultrasound waves through living tissues can induce thermal, mechanical and chemical effects useful for a variety of therapeutic applications. With the recent development of clinically approved High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) systems, therapeutic ultrasound is now a medical reality. Indeed, HIFU has been used for the thermal ablation of pathological lesions; localized, minimally invasive ultrasound-mediated drug delivery through the transient formation of pores on cell membranes; the temporary disruption of skin and the blood brain barrier; the ultrasound induced break-down of blood clots; and the targeted release of drugs using ultrasound and temperature sensitive drug carriers. This review seeks to engage the pharmaceutical research community by providing an overview on the biological effects of ultrasound as well as highlighting important therapeutic applications, current deficiencies and future directions.
超声成像是一种安全、廉价且广泛应用的诊断工具，能够实时生成无明显生物效应的非侵入性图像。然而，高能量、高强度和高频率的超声波在活体组织中的传播会产生热、机械和化学效应，这些效应可用于各种治疗应用。随着最近临床批准的高强度聚焦超声（HIFU）系统的发展，治疗超声现在已成为现实。事实上，HIFU 已用于热消融病理性病变；通过细胞膜上瞬时形成的孔进行局部、微创超声介导的药物输送；暂时破坏皮肤和血脑屏障；超声诱导的血栓破裂；以及使用超声和温度敏感药物载体靶向释放药物。这篇综述旨在通过概述超声的生物学效应，并强调重要的治疗应用、当前的不足和未来的方向，引起制药研究界的关注。
