An Electromagnetic Shock Wave Generator Employing a Solenoid Coil for Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy: Construction and Acoustical Properties

An electromagnetic type shock wave generator suitable for extracorporeal shock wave therapy has been constructed by employing a solenoid coil. The Property of the shock waves produced by the shock wave generator was evaluated using a needle hydrophone. It was shown that, as the capacitor discharging voltage increased from 8 to 18 kV, the Positive Peak Pressure (P+) of the shock wave increased non-linearly from 10 to 77 Wa. In contrast. the negative peak Pressure (f) varied between -3.2 and -6.8 MPa. had its absolute maximum of -6.9 ma at 14 kV The peak amplitudes P+ measured repeatedly under the same voltage setting varied within from mean values and this is very small compared to about for electrohydraulic type shock wave generators. It could be observed, from the hydrophone signal recorded over 1 ms. several sequential acoustic impulses representing bubble collapses. namely. acoustic cavitation. induced by the shock wave. A technique based on wavelet transformation was used to accurately measure the time delay between the 1st and 2nd collapse known to be closely related to the shock strength. It was observed that the measured time delay increased almost linearly from 120 to with the shock wave Pressure P+ increasing from 10 to 77 MPa.