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Summary of RCTs using focused ultrasound for acupoints
| First author (year) | Study design/sample size (analysis) | Target disease | Experimental group (medium; acupoint or location; irradiation time; power density or total power) | Control group (medium; acupoint or location; irradiation time; power density or total power) | Main outcomes | Results | Adverse events |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tsuruoka (2013)7) | RCT/50 (50) | Healthy | FUS; LR3; 36 sec; 2.38 W/cm2 | Manual acupuncture; LR3; 36 sec; - | BFV | 1) BFV decreased in Con group ( 2) After 180s, BFV increased significantly ( |
No AE |
| Wei (2020)8) | RCT/16 (16) | Healthy | FUS; ST36; 9.5 min; 1.75 W | Manual Acupuncture; ST36; 9.5 min; - | 1) Psychophysical responses 2) fMRI |
1) No significantly difference “soreness, numbness, or dull pain” ( 2) Both US and MA at ST36 assent to similar activated regions with substantial signal intensity. |
No AE |
| Yoo (2014)9) | RCT/10 (10) | Healthy | FUS; LI4; 1 min; 1 or 3 W/cm2 | (A) Needle acupuncture (B) Sham acupuncture (C) Tactile stimulation (D) FUS; 1 min; 1 W/cm2 (E) FUS; 1 min; 3 W/cm2 (F) Sham FUS; LI4; 1 min; - |
10 Deqi-related and non-related sensation score | 1) Deqi-related sensation score:no difference between (A) and (E) ( 2) Non-degi related sensation score:(A)>(E) (all |
No AE |
| Liu (2011)a10) | RCT/40 (40) | Healthy | FUS; ST36; 30 min; 0.625∼5 W | Placebo (no dosage) | Electronic Von Frey | 1) Significantly difference between two groups ( |
NM |
| Jing (2014)11) | RCT/89 (74) | Shoulder pain, low back pain Patients | Low back pain: FUS; EX-B2, ST36, Bl40; each 10 min, total 30 min; 0.5 W/cm2 Shoulder pain: FUS; LI15, GB21, LI4; each 10 min, total 30 min; 0.5 W/cm2 |
Nothing | VAS | 1) Exp: 5.08±1.20→1.58±1.03 2) Con: 5.30±1.82→4.10±1.51 ( |
NM |
| Liu (2011)b12) | RCT/40 (37) | Low back pain patients | FUS; ST36, BL40, EX-B2; each 10 min, total 30 min; 0.625∼5 W | Placebo (no dosage) | 1) Effective rate 2) VAS |
1) Immediately after treatment : Exp 100% : Con 27.8% 2) Consistently significant higher in the Exp group after treatment 1,7,14,21,28 days. |
1 case: mild pain |
| Li (2019)13) | RCT/120 (120) | Osteoarthritis patients | FUS; ST35, EX-LE4, ST34, GB34, BL17, SP10, BL23, SP9, ST36; 5 min; 0.625∼5 W | FUS; EX-LE4; 5 min; 0.625∼5 W | 1) Lequesne score 2) Serum SOD 3) MMP-13 |
1) Lequesne: Exp<Con ( 2) Serum SOD: Exp>Con ( 3) MMP-13: Exp<Con ( |
NM |
sec : second, min : minute, FUS : focused ultrasound, BFV : blood flow volume, Con : control group, Exp : experimental group, AE : adverse event, NM : not mentioned, MA : manual acupuncture, US : ultrasound, VAS : visual analog scale.