Intense Therapeutic Ultrasound for the Treatment of Chronic Plantar Fasciitis

Not Applicable

Completed

Brief Summary: A clinical trial evaluating the effectiveness, safety and patient tolerance for the use of Intense Therapeutic Ultrasound (ITU) for chronic, Plantar Fasciitis musculoskeletal tissue pain reduction began in August 2016 and was completed in April 2017. The clinical setting: University Foot and Ankle Institute, Santa Monica, California, USA; Single-Blinded, pivotal study for chronic plantar fasciitis.

Detailed Description: Intense Therapeutic Ultrasound (ITU) is an established ultrasound based therapy in which sound waves are concentrated and focused into selected musculoskeletal tissue, to produce selective thermal coagulative changes over a small controlled area while leaving the surrounding tissue unaffected. These coagulative changes are known to begin the body's tissue response cascade and promote collagen generation in the targeted anatomy resulting in pain reduction.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria

Chronic Pain (>90 days) from previously diagnosed Plantar Fasciitis, where "Standard of Care" regimens failed to relief pain in the affected anatomy.
No History of surgery to the affected anatomy.
No alternative treatment procedures within the last 90 days.
Age: 18 - 85, depending on the study.
Unilateral Pain
Willingness to complete treatment and post treatment regimen as described.
Patients who have provided written and verbal informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria

Patients currently enrolled in any other non-conservative, device, or Investigational New Drug clinical trial, or who have participated in a clinical study involving the Plantar Fascia, thirty days prior to study initiation;
Patients who have participated in any other clinical study involving an investigational product 30 days prior to enrollment that, in the opinion of the Principal Investigator, could affect the outcome of this study;
Patients who have received previous treatment in the symptomatic limb (not including conservative treatment);
At the Principal Investigator's discretion, any patient that should be excluded based on their current condition or medical history.

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Intense Therapeutic Ultrasound Treatment	Intense Therapeutic Ultrasound Treatment	Intense Therapeutic Ultrasound treatment applied along the length and width of the proximal Plantar Fascia. 1000 - 5 Joule pulses were applied twice, four weeks apart.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Patient Reported Pain Via the Universal Visual Analog Scale: Pass Criteria = at Least 25% Pain Reduction	At 12 weeks after the first treatment	Patient Reported Pain Reduction meeting or exceeding 25% using the Universal Visual Analog Scale. The Universal Visual Analog Scale is a 10 Point pain scale, where 0 = No Pain, 1 = slight Pain and 10 = the patient's worst imaginable pain. Ratings of 2 to 9 describe pain increases of 10%/Rating. For this measure a reduction of 25% on the Universal Visual Analog Scale is considered meeting the Pain Reduction Criteria. Lower Scale numbers compared to reported baseline ratings equates to pain reduction.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Ultrasound Changes	At 12 Weeks after the first treatment	Diagnostic Ultrasound Changes: Hypoechoic Lesion Volume Reduction following 2 Intense Therapeutic Ultrasound Treatments
Percentage of Change of Pain and Hypoechoic Lesion Volume Compared to Baseline	At 12 Weeks after the first treatment	Compare percentage of Mean changes in pain via the Patient Reported Universal Visual Analog Scale compared to Mean Patient Reported Baseline Pain Scores and percentage of Mean change of Plantar Fascia Hypoechoic Lesion Volume compared to mean baseline Hypoechoic lesion volume following two Intense Therapeutic Ultrasound Treatments, using Diagnostic Ultrasound Images. For Plantar Fascia Hypoechoic Lesion Volume, each lesion volume was calculated using: (4/3) π x R1 x R2 x R3, where r = Radius of each measurement: Lesion Length(1), width(2) and depth(3)