Assessment of acoustic pulse therapy (APT), a non-antibiotic treatment for dairy cows with clinical and subclinical mastitis

Abstract

Clinical and subclinical mastitis affects 30% of cows and is regarded as the most significant economic burden on the dairy farm reducing milk yield and quality and increasing culling rate. A proprietary Acoustic Pulse Therapy (APT) device was developed specifically for treating dairy cows. The APT device was designed to produce deep penetrating acoustic pulses that are distributed over a large treated area at a therapeutic level. This paper presents findings from a clinical assessment of this technology for the treatment of dairy cows with subclinical and clinical mastitis. In subclinical mastitis, a group of 116 cows from 3 herds were identified with subclinical intramammary infection and enrolled in the study; 78 cows were assigned to the treatment group and 38 cows to the control group. Significant differences (P<0.001) were found where 70.5% of the cows in the treatment group returned to normal milk production, compared with only 18.4% of the control group. Daily milk yields of the treated cows increased significantly (P<0.05) and the percentage of cows with log somatic cell count under 5.6 cells/mL was significantly higher (P<0.001). Milk of the infected quarters appeared normal with lactose greater than 4.8%, but this difference was not significant. Of the treated cows with identified bacteria, 52.6% of the quarters were cured, while in the control group only 25.0% (P<0.001). Specifically, all cows identified with Escherichia coli in the treatment group were cured, with 66.6% cured with no intervention in the control. Spontaneous cure of glands infected with coagulase negative staphylococci (CNS) and Streptococci was low while treatment successfully increased the cure of CNS from 13.3% to 53.8% and that of Streptococci from 18.2% to 36.4%. Of the 4 cows identified with Staphylococcus aureus, 3 were cured. The clinical mastitis study group included 29 infected cows that were submitted either to a gold standard antibiotic treatment subgroup of 16 cows (n = 16) or to an APT treatment subgroup of 13 cows (n = 13). A cure of 18.7% was shown for the antibiotic treatment, of which logSCC returned to <5.6 cell/mL and 56.2% were culled. A cure of 76.9% was shown for the APT treatment with only one cow culled (7.7%).

New Treatment Option for Clinical and Subclinical Mastitis in Dairy Cows Using Acoustic Pulse Technology (APT)

“…The recovery of cows with subclinical and clinical mastitis was 65.5% and 67.8%, respectively, with lowered SCC and higher MY, resulting in a profitable cow in the herd. Based on the current and previous studies [22], and on our knowledge of the influence of mechanotransduction of SW on local homeostasis and positive regulation of cell vitality-promoting tissue self-healing capabilities and anti-inflammatory (cytokine secretion) [4] as well as immunomodulatory effects [9][10][11], we can assume that the SWs trigger and help in self-healing, including possible clearance of the bacteria (although this was not tested). Additional studies should be performed to prove possible clearance of the bacteria.…”

“…Acoustic pulse technology was specifically developed for the treatment of dairy cows (APT-X, Armenta Ltd., Ra'anana, Israel). The therapeutic effects are distributed over a large area generated by using high air pressure to repeatedly drive a projectile to collide against an anvil, connected to a treatment head [22]. The acoustic pulse is noninvasive and the treatment zone covers about 3487 cm 3 (213 in 3 ) of the udder tissue.…”

“…In previous studies [22], Leitner, unpublished data], APT was assessed on hundreds of cows with clinical and subclinical mastitis on several dairy farms, and resulted in 70-80% recovery, i.e., a decrease in the SCC to <250 × 10 3 cells/mL in all three monthly milk recordings, or in the second and third recordings, and a return to normal milk production. Moreover, when APT was compared to antibiotics, >90% of the cows treated with APT remained in the herd for at least 90 days (end of the experiment) and were productive and profitable, compared to only 50% of the cows treated with antibiotics.…”

Advances in therapeutic and managemental approaches of bovine mastitis: a comprehensive review

“…Even the isolated bacterial type infected cows were significantly cured by APT, though differences in the cure rate was reported with the type of bacteria involved. In the same study of clinical mastitis, APT cured 76.9% of the affected cows (n = 13) while only 18.7% were cured by the gold standard antibiotic therapy (Leitner et al 2018 ). This therapy though appears promising but further extensive including the involved infectious agent types studies are desired to standardize the therapy.…”

Management of high cows-share-contribution of SCC to the bulk milk tank by acoustic pulse technology (APT)

“…APT is a short pulse of positive pressure (1–3 μs) followed by negative pressure (shear stress effect), causing microbubble and cavitation formation which disappear in a few hundred microseconds ( Fig 1A ) [ 9 , 10 ]. The APT-X device developed by Armenta Ltd. (Ra’anana, Israel) was specifically adapted for the treatment of dairy cows ( Fig 1B ): it is harmless to the animal, it does not affect the milking routine, and no milk is discarded during its application [ 11 ]. Treatment of clinical and subclinical mastitis on commercial dairy farms using the APT-X has been shown to result in >70% recovery, reduce culling by >70%, and increase daily milk yield (MY) [ 11 ], and to give better results than treatment with antibiotics.…”