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Transcutaneous Acoustic Palpation (TAP): Pain Diagnosis

Award Information
Agency: Department of Health and Human Services
Branch: National Institutes of Health
Contract: 1R41NS049719-01
Agency Tracking Number: NS049719
Amount: $100,000.00
Phase: Phase I
Program: STTR
Solicitation Topic Code: N/A
Solicitation Number: N/A
Timeline
Solicitation Year: N/A
Award Year: 2004
Award Start Date (Proposal Award Date): N/A
Award End Date (Contract End Date): N/A
Small Business Information
ALLEZ PHYSIONIX, LTD 10946 84TH PL
KIRKLAND, WA 98934
United States
DUNS: N/A
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: No
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
Principal Investigator
 R FREDERICKSON
 (206) 336-5623
 RAFRED@SHAW.CA
Business Contact
 ROBERT FREDRICKSON
Phone: () -
Email: RAFRED@SHAW.COM
Research Institution
 UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
 
University of Washington
seattle, WA 98105
United States

 Nonprofit College or University
Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Undiagnosed sources of pain are a frequent, though often a nonspecific presenting symptom of numerous medical conditions. A classic attempt to make pain a more specific diagnostic in conjunction with anatomical knowledge is when the Doctor palpates a particular part of the body and asks does this hurt? This works well enough for potential sources of pain at or near the surface of the skin that are on the same scale as the Doctor s fingers. Yet there remains a need to more precisely, reliably and in a noninvasive manner, stimulate individual constituent pieces of a complex structure within the body (i.e., the disks, vertebral body, lamina and facets of the spine) so as to identify the exact source of pain. It is well known that high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) can focally, non-invasively and without damage probe small structures, including those within the body, via the induction of small displacements within tissue by inducing local temperature changes in tissue. Our long-term goal is to develop a new diagnostic tool for the physician by increasing the specificity of pain through the non-destructive use of image guided HIFU. In essence, we propose to use noninvasive, focal ultrasound to differentially diagnose back pain by the non-invasive and safe stimulation of individual potential sources of back pain and subsequently reported patient responses through the focal induction of displacement and/or increases in temperature of relevant tissue by HIFU. We call this TAP for Transcutaneous Acoustic Palpation

* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *

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