h a l f b a k e r yPoof of concept
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I was reading a link about how ultrasound can soften and loosen the collagen in scar tissue for cosmetic surgery. This gave me the idea of using it to loosen the grip of strictures that most often affect the urethra from scar tissue tightening the passage, often from previous injury. I hope this isn't
baked.
Stick a sonotrode on a probe, and have at it.
(eh, that sounds harsh, huh?)
the link I was reading
http://www.jromano.com/skin/ultra.html
[lumpy, Mar 20 2002, last modified Oct 04 2004]
Holmium laser
http://www.converge...ser.com/odyssey.php
[hippo, Mar 22 2002, last modified Oct 04 2004]
effectof ultrasound
http://www.google.c...th+ultrasound&hl=en
html version of a pdf doc re physiological effect of ultrasound [IvanIdea, Mar 24 2002, last modified Oct 04 2004]
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Ultrasound is already used internally to break up kidney stones. |
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[bm] I don't think ultrasound can break up tissue - but Holmium lasers can, apparantly. See link. |
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How in heavens name can you suffer an injury to your urethra? No don't tell me |
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Too bad IvanIdea, I'm gonna tell you: It most often happens to kids who are more prone to such injury in straddle-type injuries, such as falling off the seat of a bicycle and onto the bar. Sometimes the growth of scar tissue doesn't become an issue until years later. |
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Oh, and hippo, the heat needed to ablate soft tissue with a laser causes more scars to form, which keep growing to cause the same problem again. Incisions also have the drawback of causing more scars. |
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Do a search for "urethral distraction defects" and you'll see a 90 year record of developing surgical treatments for the variations on this disorder. My money is on an eventual proof of concept and subsequent coversion of urologists away from surgery and into minimally invasive, uretheroplastic methods coupled with applied heat. Lord, that even sounds better. |
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//I hope this isn't baked//
Rather, you should hope it is - for the sake of those now in shoes like Mephista's at the time of her great loss. |
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Ouch, I can dimly recall bouncing off the crossbar of my bike a couple of times in my youth. Interesting link, I was initially a little sceptical of the ability of the ultrasound to soften and reorder the structure of what is a very tough chemically crosslinked insoluble matrix without doing permanent cellular damage. However I found references that ultrasonic energy is preferentially absorbed by proteins and by non homogeneous materials, and non homogeneous protein is a very fair description of scar tissue. Even more interestingly i came across the following comments on the physiological effect of ultrasound:- |
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Skin temp raises 4.3ºF Intra-articular temp raises 2.5 ºF Blood flow increases fibroblastic activity, collage n deposition and newcapillary growth stimulated muscle spasm is reduced by sedation of sensoryand motor nerves local increase in cellular metabolic rate. (see link) |
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The best way to heal is to persuade the body to do the work itself, and it does seem that ultrasound could do this very effectively on a local basis, the increased blood supply and capillary growth bringing fibrobasts to the area to reabsorb the scar tissue and stimulating more ordered synthesis of collagen to reform the connective tissue. I think you may be onto something here, and any thing seems preferable to the etablished techniques for dealing with the problem. |
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