Study of the emissive properties of ultrasound systems for physiotherapy and aesthetic treatments

The widespread use of ultrasound in physiotherapy and recently in aesthetics (medical and non medical) and the variety of devices based on ultrasonic emission at relatively low cost and available to a wide range of users, requires a deep knowledge of the emissive mode of these equipments. In order to provide a contribution for improving the quality and safety of treatments, a study on the technical performance and emissive characteristics of few devices available on the market was carried out, according to the international standard CEI EN 61689:2007. Emissive properties were assessed for two systems working at 1 MHz and 3 MHz, respectively, used for physiotherapy and aesthetics; the characterization of the ultrasonic pressure fields of these devices was related to the electronic characteristics of their controls. The results highlighted few critical aspects related to the non perfect accord between control and US transducer, to the effects of internationally-defined parameters values, when they are found out of range, according to the definition of an acceptable systems' quality, and to the need of extensively describe such systems including a suitable set of measurements aiming at their characterization as a whole.