6.04 - 6.

06

ULTRASOUND

TEACHER : DR. JIGNASHA VADI (PT)

VERIFIED BY : DR. ASHOK CHAUDHARY (PT)
VALIDATED BY : DR. POONGUNDRAN P. (PT)

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 SOUND

• Definition: Sound is the periodic mechanical disturbance of an

elastic medium such as air.

• Sound is a mechanical wave produced by vibrating bodies.

• Longitudinal wave, propagates in medium by compression and

rarefaction.
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• Frequency of the sound wave is the same as the rate of
oscillation of source.
– For human being, audible sound ranges 20Hz -20kHz.
– Frequency involved in speech & music is about 30Hz-4000Hz.
– Higher in children about 20kHz.

– Lower in old age about 16Hz-20Hz.

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 Difference
Electromagnetic
Sound waves waves

• Require elastic medium • Can travel even in

for transmission vacuum
• Longitudinal waves. • Both longitudinal &
• Propagates by transverse wave.
compression & • Particles go up & down.
rarefaction.
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 INFRASOUND

• Vibration below 20Hz frequency is called infrasound or

infrasonic radiation.
• During earthquakes, infrasound are produced, but it is out of
audible range of human.

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 ULTRASOUND
• Ultrasonic energy or ultrasound describes any vibration at a
frequency about above the sound range.
i.e. >20kHz.
• Frequencies of a few megahertz that are typically used
therapeutically ranges from 0.5MHz to 5MHz.

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 Nature of sonic waves.
• Sonic waves are a series of mechanical compression &
rarefactions in the direction of travel of wave, hence they are

called longitudinal waves.

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• Velocity depends on elasticity(ability to deform) of medium.
• Sonic waves pass more rapidly through material in which the
molecules are close together.
• So, velocity is higher in solids and liquids than in gases.
• Sonic waves velocity

1. in air- 340m/s.

2.in bone 2800m/s.

3.in steel 5850m/s.

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• For wave equation v=f.λ

• Where f & λ are inversely related. & v remains constant .

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 Wave absorption.
• Propagation of sound wave depends upon the transmission of
energy from particle to particle.
• Sometimes the energy is absorbed rapidly & some passes
without loss.
• As molecules jostle & collide with one another energy will be

transferred from one to another.

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 Transmission.
• It depends on elasticity .

• Elasticity is the ability of material to undergo deformation called

acoustic impedance of medium.

– A.I.= (Density of medium)(velocity of sonic waves)

– Metal have very high A.I.

– Water have lesser A.I.

– Air have very low A.I.

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• During transmission of sound wave from one
medium to another medium, either sound wave
can be
1.Reflected.

2.Refracted.
3.Absorbed.

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THE PRODUCTION OF
THERAPEUTIC
ULTRASOUND.

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• To produce the high frequency ultrasound waves used

therapeutically ,mechanical oscillation frequencies in

the range from about 1-3MHz are needed.

• Ultra sound can be produced using

Piezoelectric crystals.

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• Piezoelectric crystals are crystalline solids which have as a special
property that they changes in thickness in response to an applied
voltage.
• Many types of crystal can be used to produce therapeutic sound
but the most favored are quartz,
• Some synthetic ceramic materials such as barium titanate and
lead zirconate titanate (PZT).

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• If alternating voltage is applied to a Piezoelectric
crystal, its thickness will change in an oscillatory
manner.
• Thickness of crystal should be suitably cut so that it
can resonate at a chosen frequency.

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• All therapeutic ultrasound generators have a hand-
held probe with a treatment head, within which a
piezoelectric crystal is mounted.

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• Piezoelectric effect:
• There are two forms of the piezoelectric effect.

1.Direct.
2.Reverse (indirect).

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• The direct piezoelectric effect
– Is the generation of an electric voltage across a crystal when

the crystal is compressed.

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• The Reverse piezoelectric effect
– Is the contraction or expansion of crystal in
response to a voltage applied across its face.
– A change in the polarity of the applied voltage
cause a contracted crystal to expand and vice versa.

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 Components of Ultrasound
circuit
• Main supply: This is the A.C., normally of 220 volt having frequency of
50 Hz.
• Transformer: Step up transformer is used to increase the voltage of the
current.
• Rectifier: Where current is converted from A.C. to D.C.

• Oscillator: This is to give high frequency oscillating current to the

output circuit.
• Amplifier: This is to increase the magnitude of current .

• Co-axial cable: It is a simple wire covered by a metallic plate and

separated by insulating material. It takes the current to the transducer.21
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• TRANSMISSION OF SONIC WAVES:
– The metal plate of the treatment head moves
backwards and forwards to generate a stream of
compression waves that forms the sonic beam Due
to the fact that the wavelength of these waves is
much smaller than the transducer face.
– The sonic beam is roughly cylindrical and of the same
diameter as the transducer head.

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• The beam non-uniformity ratio (BNR) is the ratio

between peak intensity and average intensity in the

beam. The lower the BNR the more uniform the beam.

• Wave emitted from the different places on the face of

transducer will travel in space in front of the transducer.

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• Some waves cancel out, others reinforce so that the net result is a
very irregular pattern of sonic waves in the region close to the
transducer face, called the near field or Fresnel zone.
• The region beyond this, the far field or fraunhofer zone.
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6.04 - 6.06 ULTRASOUND 25
• The length of near field will depend :

1. Directly on the square of the face

2. Inversely on the wave length

so, Length of Fresnel zone =r2/λ

Therapeutic ultrasound utilizes the near field and

hence is irregular. There is relatively more energy.
carried in the central part of the cross-section of the
beam.

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 Boundaries between media:

– Sonic waves involve vibratory motion of molecules so that

there is a characteristic velocity of wave progression for
each particular medium.
– Energy transmission depends on acoustic impedance of
medium.
– Energy carried by a wave also depends on its frequency
and amplitude.

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 Various changes come to a
boundary:
• Velocity changes according to A.I. of medium.

• Frequency remains same, wavelength must change.

• Some energy is reflected back. The amount of energy reflected is

proportional to the difference in A.I. between 2 media.

E.g. water & glass have higher difference. so, reflected energy

will be 63% where as in case of water & soft tissue, reflected energy

will be 0.2% only.

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• If wave strikes at boundary at some other angle the

reflected wave will travel away from the boundary at the

same angle.

• If some energy is reflected back, frequency remain the

same but amplitude will decrease.

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• Refraction(change in direction) of the sonic wave will occur
due to the difference in A.I.
• The original & reflected, are travelling in opposite direction
so at some point they will be combined, producing a much
greater amplitude and at other point they will cancel out.
this tends to produce a stationary or standing wave.

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 Half value depth:

• There is no depth at which all the energy has been absorbed.

• The depth or distance at which half the initial energy has been
absorbed is called Half value depth.
• It depends on

1. frequency

2. nature of medium.

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6.04 - 6.06 ULTRASOUND 32
 Heating of the tissue due to
ultrasound
• Rate of tissue heating is influenced by the blood flow, which
constantly carries heat away.
• In highly vascular tissue, heat would be rapidly dissipated
preventing any temperature rise.
• Where as less vascular structure experience a relatively
greater temperature rise.

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 Attenuation of Ultrasound
in tissue
• The loss of energy from the ultrasound beam in the tissue is
called attenuation.
• It depends on absorption & scattering.
• Absorption accounts for 60-80% of energy lost from the
beam. this scattered energy may also be absorbed other than
in the region to which ultrasound beam is applied.

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• Scattering is caused by reflection & refraction. Where there is
high difference in A.I.
• Shear waves can also be formed which transmit energy along
the periosteal surface at right angle to beam.

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 Testing of apparatus
• Prior to any treatment it is sensible to check that there is an
output from the machine. This can be done by placing the
treatment head just below surface in a suitable container and
observing the disturbance which appears in the water.

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 References:

1. Clayton’s Electrotherapy: Theory and Practice -

Forster & Palastanga (Ninth Edition)

2. Electrotherapy Explained – John Low & Ann Reed

(Third Edition)

3. Electrotherapy Simplified – Basanta Kumar Nanda

4. Basics of Electrotherapy – Subhash Khatri

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