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The new miniature ultrasound device looks like an iPod than a medical tool, could revolutionize pain relief.

The latest miniature ultrasound device created by Cornell biomedical engineering graduate student George K. Lewis could introduce a whole new level of home therapy for arthritis, injury and other painful ailments.

The sleek blue-and-white device slips into a pocket and sends ultrasound waves deep into muscles via a coin-sized polystyrene pad. This is the transducer, which converts electrical energy into ultrasound.

Lewis hopes that this model – possibly the world’s smallest ultrasound device – can hit the marketplace and find itself in the pockets of millions of people.

Since first publishing research about his pocket-sized devices in 2007, Lewis has continued to improve them, making them smaller and more efficient. He recently teamed with MBA student Bryant Guffey to form ZetrOZ Inc. to try and take the devices to the market.

Ultrasound is often used to relieve muscle and joint pain but requires patients to receive treatments in doctors’ and physical therapists’ offices. Lewis’ mini-machine would allow people to receive such treatment at home and work.
 
Reid said that medications are the primary way to treat pain in older patients, but with age comes increased risk of complications. There is a “great need” to support research into non-drug therapies for pain, Reid said.

Lewis’ latest prototype sends low-intensity energy in the form of ultrasound waves from the transducer into the body, which is gentle enough to be kept close to the skin for up to 10 hours.

Source: Cornell University

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