Tissue Graft Healing Promoted by Ultrasound Therapy

Ultrasounds are most widely known for being used on expecting mothers, who get a chance to see their babies while still in the womb. But researchers have recently determined that the technique could also be used for other applications as well, including for promoting the healing process of tissue grafts, following surgery. It's not at all uncommon for such transplants to fail, or get infected. Grafts can simply die or get rejected, but low-intensity ultrasound (LIUS) therapy apparently has the ability to prevent that from happening, LiveScience reports.

One of the main traits of ultrasounds is that they cause various types of molecules to move. When applied on living cells, the sounds improve the structures' viability, thus promoting faster integration of the grafts, and healing implicitly. When applied to the general area of the transplant, the ultrasounds act to increase blood flow to the affected region, making the receiving body more primed to accept the new “components.” Additional uses for the method include the regeneration of bones and cartilages, as well as the stimulation of cells in the field of tissue engineering.

“In the context of using LIUS to enhance autograft survival, the possibility that the LIUS can directly activate signaling pathways in implanted cells needs to be taken into account. It may eventually be possible to manipulate cellular responses by fine-tuning this technique,” explains scientist Hyoungshin Park. The expert, who is based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), is the lead author of the investigation, which is detailed in the May 27 issue of the esteemed Journal of Tissue Engineering.

Scientists from the Center for Laryngeal Surgery and Voice Rehabilitation at Massachusetts General Hospital, in Boston, and the Ben Gurion University in Beer-Sheva, Israel also contributed to the study. For now, the conclusions are based on lab studies, but the international collaboration plans to move to in vivo, human trials soon. If the method proves successful, then surgery departments at hospitals around the world could benefit from a new tool to ensure higher success rates following graft procedures.