M.S. Thesis Presentation by Andrew S. Terrell
Wednesday, November 22, 2000

(Dr. Peter Rogers, advisor)

"The Effect of Hydro-Acoustic Therapy on Sputum Production in Patients with Cystic Fibrosis"

Abstract

This study compares a standard airway clearance technique (ABI VEST™ system) and a new treatment called Hydro-Acoustic Therapy (HAT) in a group of stable cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. In this crossover trial, three patients (two male and one female) aged 21 - 30 with mild to severe lung disease who met the inclusion criteria were tested. They underwent treatment for two weeks (one week of each treatment) at three sessions per week. The treatment length was the same for both treatments. Expectorated secretions were collected during the 30 minute therapy session and the 30 minutes following. The wet and dry weights were determined and compared. In all but one measure more sputum, and in some cases significantly more sputum, was collected from the HAT therapy than from the VEST™ therapy. The one measure that did not indicate more sputum production with HAT was statistically equivalent to production from the VEST™ treatment. The results suggest that the HAT treatment is at least as effective as the VEST™ treatment. A larger sample size is necessary to verify this finding. Also included here are the results of 14 healthy volunteers used to verify the safety of the system and the effectiveness of determining lung resonance frequency using HAT.