# Ultrasound in Women's Health: Mechanisms, Applications, and Emerging Opportunities

## TL;DR

This review explores how ultrasound technologies can address women's health disparities by evolving into versatile diagnostic and therapeutic tools.

## Contribution

The paper highlights ultrasound's expanding role in women's health, emphasizing its potential to reduce sex-based medical gaps.

## Key findings

- Ultrasound can provide non-invasive diagnosis and targeted therapeutic interventions for women's health conditions.
- Advancements in ultrasound technologies may improve outcomes for historically underserved female-specific health issues.
- Ultrasound mechanisms like cavitation and thermal interactions can be harnessed for therapeutic applications in women's health.

## Abstract

Women's health remains inadequately served due to the historical predominance of males as the biological reference in medical research, leading to persistent sex‐based gaps in the understanding, diagnosis, and management of disease. As healthcare moves toward decentralization, e.g., through the collection of person‐generated health data, point‐of‐care diagnostics, and wearable devices, there is a critical need for tools tailored to women's unique conditions and presentations. Ultrasound technologies, recognized for their versatility and safety, have evolved from imaging to multifunctional platforms, with growing roles in diagnosis and therapy. Diagnostic ultrasound non‐invasively assesses anatomical features and functional information, and therapeutic ultrasound can perform targeted interventions, including neuromodulation, immunomodulation, thermal ablation, and drug delivery. By exploring the fundamental physical principles of ultrasound, including acoustic streaming, cavitation, and thermal interactions, and linking these mechanisms to cellular and tissue responses, this review highlights the capability of ultrasound to address female‐specific health disparities, especially in conditions that are undertreated or differentially expressed in women. Advancements in ultrasound technologies could significantly enhance clinical outcomes and improve the quality of life for women affected by conditions currently underserved by traditional medical interventions.

As healthcare moves toward decentralization, ultrasound technologies are evolving from strictly imaging tools in clinical settings into versatile diagnostic and therapeutic platforms, with growing roles addressing women's health needs. This review highlights how ultrasound's underlying physical mechanisms can be harnessed to reduce disparities in women's health and improve outcomes for conditions historically underserved by conventional treatments.