CALCULATION OF SHOCK-WAVE PULSE EFFECT ON OUTSTRETCHED SPINE

Abstract

Combined effects of a shock-wave pulse method and mechanotherapy on a spine is considered as an alternative to conservative and operative methods.

Methodology for spinal disease treatment while applying a shock-wave therapy is characterized by the following specific features. Firstly, it is necessary to limit a penetration depth of shock pulses in a biological object in order to exclude damage to a spinal cord. Secondly, it is necessary to limit an energy flux density:

I_max≤ 0,280 J∕m²

and  pressure in focus:

P_Fmax≤ 0,040 MPа,

in order to exclude traumatizing of spinal tissue and only stimulate blood  circulation and metabolic processes in them.

Where an acceptable value of the force acting on the inter-vertebral disc while a shock wave is passing is determined by the following formula:

 F max = P_FmaxS = P_Fmax πr₀² = 0,040 ∙10⁶ ∙3,14 ∙(8∙10^-3)² = 9 N,

where r₀ – a focal spot radius, mm.

Mechanotherapy is applied in combination with the shock-wave therapy and it presupposes the following: an outstretching force acts created in a longitudinal direction of the spine and it is directed across a vertebral column, whose value usually ranges from 50 to 500 N.