Antibacterial soaps and disinfectant sprays may one day become less important in the fight against viruses like COVID-19 and the flu. Not because humanity suddenly discovered how to wash its hands properly; we’re still pretty bad at that. But researchers are exploring whether viruses could eventually be destroyed using sound waves instead of chemicals.
We’re probably still a long way from walking around with some kind of sci-fi sonic virus cannon, but according to research published in Scientific Reports, scientists may have taken an early step in that direction.
Researchers at the University of São Paulo in Brazil found that the same kind of ultrasound waves already used in medical imaging were capable of physically damaging influenza A and SARS-CoV-2 particles in lab experiments. According to the study, specific ultrasound frequencies created microscopic vibrations that were strong enough to rupture the virus’s outer membranes, forcing them to collapse from the inside out.
The whole process relies on a cue stick resonance. Every object has a natural frequency at which it vibrates, including spherical virus particles. The researchers found that when ultrasound frequencies match that resonance, the virus absorbs the energy until its membrane rips apart.
Think of it like the classic cartoon example of an opera singer hitting such a high note that the vibrations of it cause glass to shatter. Just, instead of glass, it’s a virus that could make you sick.
You Might Need a Better Excuse for Calling Out From Work Someday
The downside of antibacterial cleaners is that they work indiscriminately. That sounds good on the surface, but in the process of killing the virus particles, they will also kill good particles around them. The same goes for the low-frequency ultrasound sterilization methods that have already been used in medical equipment for years.
The major appeal to this method is in how viruses adapt. The reason there are so many COVID variants is that they adapt to vaccinations. This proposed technique would sidestep a virus’s natural evolutionary instinct to adapt to whatever chemicals are trying to kill it, instead of attacking the physical structure of the virus with what essentially amounts to the antiviral equivalent of a baseball bat to the knees. It’s a physical pummeling that it can’t evolve its way out of.
Scientists are already studying whether the same technique could work against dengue, Zika, and Chikungunya viruses. Again, it’s still in the very early stages of the research, and it’s been conducted entirely in labs, with nothing tested on humans or animals yet. But there may one day be a moment when a doctor prescribes getting blasted with ultrasonic waves when you have the flu, and if it proves to work well enough, you’re going to have to adapt like the viruses themselves and come up with a better excuse for calling out from work.
The post Scientists Found an Unexpected New Use for Ultrasound Waves appeared first on VICE.
