A research group led by Visiting Professor Hiroaki Shimokawa of Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine has clarified for the first time in the world that low-intensity pulsed wave ultrasound treatment is effective and safe for Alzheimer's disease through animal experiments and clinical trials.It is an epoch-making treatment method that activates self-healing ability with ultrasound, and the ultrasonic irradiation device was selected as a target item of the Pioneering Medical Device Designation System by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

 According to Tohoku University, in 2018, a research group applied low-power pulsed-wave ultrasound therapy, which intermittently irradiates ultrasound at frequencies above the human audible range (20 kilohertz or higher), to mice with Alzheimer's disease and cerebrovascular dementia. and found it to be effective and safe.

 Animal experiments have shown that the decline in cognitive function is caused by a decrease in nitric oxide, which dilates blood vessels, in the brain.Mice treated with low-intensity pulsed-wave ultrasound had increased nitric oxide in the brain.The research group believes that low-intensity pulsed-wave ultrasound treatment promoted the expression of nitric oxide synthase in the endothelial cells of microvessels, and as a result, improved microblood circulation disorders.

 Based on the results of this study, a clinical trial was conducted at Tohoku University Hospital on 22 patients with early Alzheimer's disease, and similar results were obtained.Furthermore, it was found that the number of effective cases increased as the number of treatments increased.

 In the future, the research group plans to proceed to a confirmatory trial with a significantly increased number of cases, but low-intensity pulsed wave ultrasound treatment is effective and safe for Alzheimer's disease, and the therapeutic effect accumulates over the long term, delaying the worsening of symptoms. Instead, it suggests the possibility of improvement.

Paper information:[The Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine] A pilot study of whole-brain low-intensity pulsed ultrasound therapy for early stage of Alzheimer's disease (LIPUS-AD): A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

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