'Sound gun' idea to fight tumours

A machine that fires powerful "sound bullets" made from concentrated noise could be used to treat cancer, say scientists.
By The Newsroom
Published 6th Apr 2010, 12:17 BST
Updated 6th Apr 2010, 12:17 BST

Two researchers have devised a prototype "acoustic lens" that focuses sound into high-energy pulses.

A "sonic scalpel" based on the device could target and destroy tumours, it is claimed. Other potential uses include medical imaging and testing materials – and the scientists also hint at possible military applications.

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The machine consists of an array of 441 small steel spheres arranged in 21 parallel chains.

Squeezing the spheres together by varying amounts affects the speed at which sound travels through the chains. This is because sound moves faster through solid objects than through air.

By carefully adjusting the speed of sound passing through different chains, the acoustic lens can be "tuned" to emit sound waves that overlap and amplify one another at a specific focal point. The result is a high-energy compact pulse of sound vibrations.

Dr Allessandro Spadoni and Dr Chiara Daraio, both from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, US, described their invention in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.