To provide ultrasonic treatment of animals, ultrasonic waves in a frequency range of between 15 kilohertz and 100 kilohertz are applied to water in a tub with a power density between 0.1 and 5 watts per square centimeter. The equipment is able to apply ultrasonic waves with at least two power densities in the vicinity of the portion of the animal with one of said power densities being more than 15 watts per square meter for sterilizing the water before the patient enters the tub and the other being less than 15 watts per square meter.

To provide ultrasonic treatment of animals, ultrasonic waves in a frequency range of between 15 kilohertz and 100 kilohertz are applied to water in a tube with a power density between 0.1 and 5 watts per square centimeter. The equipment is able to apply ultrasonic waves with at least two power densities in the vicinity of the portion of the animal with one of said power densities being more than 15 watts per square meter for sterilizing the water before the patient enters the tube and the other being less than 15 watts per square meter.

A method and apparatus for increasing the density and strength of bone, particularly for preventing or treating osteoporosis, by subjecting the bone to unfocussed compressional shock waves.

The invention relates to a method and to apparatus for detecting and locating a bony region by ultrasound. The apparatus comprises at least one ultrasound transducer component mounted on means for displacing it in three dimensions, which transducer emits signals that are received by processor means for determining the coordinates of a bony region and for storing said coordinates. The invention simplifies the procedure of detecting and locating the bony region and avoids the use of X-rays.

A process for therapeutic treatment of changes in human or animal bones which cause a boundary surface gap with a width of less than 5 millimeters to form between the bone and an acoustically reflective body such as an implant, a tooth or a bone fragment. The process include a first step of locating the desired boundary surface gap by means of a locating device; next the body of the patient is exposed to acoustical shock waves through the surface of the skin after focusing the shock waves on the boundary surface gap. Vibrations are generated in the bone surfaces, the surfaces of the acoustically reflecting body, and at the gap by multiple reflections of the generated shock waves. The preferred device for carrying out the process uses a therapy head to generate and focus acoustic shock waves in a predetermined direction. The shock waves are conducted through the surface of the skin into the body of the patient by a coupling unit. An x-ray beam imaging system and two targets in which the patient and two targets are placed between the source and imaging system and the two targets are connected mechanically in a moveable manner to the therapy head so that the two targets may be rotated around at least two different axis in such as way that an imaginary line connecting the two targets always passes through the focal point of the shock waves.