Histological effects of focused ultrasound treatment on the sciatic nerves of rats: an experimental study

ABSTRACTIn this study, the histological changes in the sciatic nerves of rats after exposure to different doses of focused ultrasound (FU) were investigated in order to provide an experimental basis for the application of FU to peripheral nerve disorders. Forty-eight healthy male SD rats were randomly divided into six groups. Each group was subjected to different FU exposure times, including 10 s, 30 s, 1 min, 2 min, 3 min and 4 min of exposure. The irradiated target area was centered 0.5 cm behind the greater trochanter of the left femur with a 1-cm radius. A 1-cm-long segment of the sciatic nerve within the irradiated target area of each rat was selected for observation. The corresponding region of the right sciatic nerve of each rat was used as the control group. The results indicated that the degree of nerval injury is positively related to the dosage of FU exposure, i.e. a higher dosage leads to a greater degree of injury. Thus, FU is expected to become a new method for treating chronic neuropathic pain. Furthermore, different dosages of FU could be selected to irradiate nerves so as to cause different degrees of blockage in nerve conduction function, thus meeting the requirements of different patients suffering from pain.