Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine, Vol 10, Issue 11 637-642, Copyright © 1991 by American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine
Diagnostic ultrasound is unable to enhance the rate of neoplastic transformation in cultured mammalian cells
S. S. Tolsma, E. L. Madsen, J. Chmiel, A. O. Martin and N. P. Bouck
Department of Microbiology-Immunology, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Illinois 60611.
The ability of diagnostic pulsed ultrasound to induce heritable genetic
damage of the type that could result in neoplasia was assayed using
BHK21/cl 13 hamster cells or normal human fibroblasts as targets. Using an
exposure apparatus carefully designed to minimize beam attenuation and
reflection, cavitation, and heating, cells were exposed from 20 seconds to
40 minutes either to clinical machines operating at maximum power, or to a
highly focused nonclinical transducer at 2900 W/cm2, or to 200 shocks from
a lithotripter. No evidence of an increase in the frequency of
neoplastically transformed BHK cells or in the frequency of mutant human
cells was seen over those found in matched sham-exposed controls.
