Plantar Fasciitis

Last Updated:

Focused Ultrasound Therapy

Focused ultrasound is a noninvasive, therapeutic technology with the potential to improve the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients with plantar fasciitis. This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets in the body without damaging surrounding normal tissue.

How it Works
Where the beams converge, focused ultrasound produces small lesions that leal in a manner which helps plantar fasciitis to resolve without surgery.

Advantages
The primary options for treatment of plantar fasciitis include medication or invasive surgery.

For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide a noninvasive alternative to surgery with less risk of complications – such as surgical wound healing or infection – at a lower cost. It can reach the desired target without damaging surrounding tissue and is repeatable, if necessary.

Clinical Trials

At the present time, there are no clinical trials recruiting patients for focused ultrasound treatment of plantar fasciitis.

Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement

Focused ultrasound treatment for plantar fasciitis is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies in the US. Actisound has the CE Mark in Europe for soft tissue injuries, including plantar fasciitis, but in 2022 the company went out of business. No other company that we are aware of is trying to use this same approach for plantar fasciitis.

Notable Papers

Slayton, M., Amodei, R., Compton, K., Cicchinelli, L., Retrospective Analysis of Plantar Fascia by Ultrasound Imaging Patients Diagnosed with Plantar Fasciitis. J Am Acad Orthop Surg. 2008 Jun;16(6):338-46. JAPMA (in print) 2017

Neufeld SK, Cerrato R. Plantar fasciitis: evaluation and treatment. J Am Acad Orthop Surg. 2008 Jun;16(6):338-46.

Mast TD, Makin IR, Faidi W, Runk MM, Barthe PG, Slayton MH. Bulk ablation of soft tissue with intense ultrasound: modeling and experiments. J Acoust Soc Am. 2005 Oct;118(4):2715-24.

Click here for additional references from PubMed

International Approval