Impact of Therapeutic Ultrasound on Metabolic Hormone Release from Thyroid Gland

Authors

• Bridget Thorpe, Department of Biomedical Engineering, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
• Andrew Chen, Department of Biomedical Engineering, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
• Michael Ryan, Department of Biomedical Engineering, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
• Julia Stern, Department of Biomedical Engineering, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
• Sabyasachi Sen, Department of Medicine and Biochemistry, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
• Aleksandar Jeremic, Department of Biological Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
• Vesna Zderic, Department of Biomedical Engineering, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

4-18-2026

Journal

Journal of ultrasound in medicine : official journal of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine

DOI

10.1002/jum.70265

Keywords

endocrine thyroid hormones; therapeutic ultrasound

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: This study focused on determining if ultrasound therapy could stimulate and control the function of the thyroid gland, specifically the synthesis and release of metabolic hormones thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) in a physiologically relevant ex vivo model. METHODS: Excised thyroid glands obtained from healthy adult Sprague-Dawley rats were diced into sections and placed in wells containing 1 mL of Krebs Ringer Buffer with 5 mmol glucose. Continuous, unfocused ultrasound was applied at 1 W/cm for 5 minutes at frequencies of 600 kHz, 800 kHz, and 1 MHz using a circular planar transducer positioned at the near field-far field transition distance. Samples were collected at time points 0, 5, and 35 minutes after ultrasound sonication. T3 and T4 concentrations were analyzed using competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, and histological examination was performed using hematoxylin and eosin staining. RESULTS: There was no statistically significant difference in T4 or T3 release between the ultrasound treated and sham treated samples at any combination of frequency and time point tested (p > .05 for all comparisons). Histological analysis revealed no structural abnormalities or gross microscopic changes in ultrasound-treated samples. CONCLUSIONS: Unlike previous studies demonstrating ultrasound-stimulated insulin release from pancreatic beta cells, therapeutic ultrasound at the tested parameters did not stimulate T3 or T4 release from ex vivo thyroid tissue.

APA Citation

Thorpe, Bridget; Chen, Andrew; Ryan, Michael; Stern, Julia; Sen, Sabyasachi; Jeremic, Aleksandar; and Zderic, Vesna, "Impact of Therapeutic Ultrasound on Metabolic Hormone Release from Thyroid Gland" (2026). GW Authored Works. Paper 9039.
https://hsrc.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/gwhpubs/9039

Department

Medicine