Ultrasound tests, such as those used to track the growth of a fetus, can destroy coronavirus cells, forcing their surface to divide and implode, new research suggests.
The MIT researchers conducted a mathematical analysis based on the physical properties of the generic coronavirus cells.
He revealed that medical ultrasound exams may be able to damage the virus’s skin and spikes, leading to collapse and rupture.
Ultrasound is already used as a treatment for kidney stones, but the MIT team is asking for more research on its feasibility as a treatment for Covid-19.
In the photo, the flowering process of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. A computer study found that ultrasound waves between 25 MHz and 100 MHz are sufficient to cause the cell to collapse
Computer simulations created a model of general coronavirus, the family that includes Covid-19, flu and HIV.
They found that between 25 and 100 MHz the coronavirus cell surface divides and collapses in less than a millisecond.
At 100 MHz, the computer model revealed that the virus shell collapses because it resonates with the membrane’s natural vibration frequency.
This is a phenomenon that occurs when a specific wave frequency aligns with the inherent properties of a material, continuously amplifying vibrations.
The peculiarity of physics is the same mechanism that allows opera singers to break wine glasses and is also a problem for bridge builders.
If the frequency of the wind or footsteps aligns with the bridge’s natural properties, it oscillates out of control.
This is exactly what happened in the year 2000, when the Millennium Bridge in London was inaugurated and the steps of the people made it sway significantly.
This occurred at two MHz, but for the virus, the 100 MHz waves caused resonance. In a fraction of a second, the surface of the model virus distorted and folded.
At 25 and 50 MHz, the process was further accelerated.
“These frequencies and intensities are within the range used safely for medical imaging,” says Tomasz Wierzbicki, professor of applied mechanics at MIT and lead author of the study.
The scientists say the results are based on fragmented data on the virus’s physical properties and should be interpreted with caution.
However, it opens up the possibility that coronavirus infections, including Covid-19, may one day be treated by ultrasound.
Several issues involve the feasibility of such a therapeutic technique.
A problem with using ultrasound to fight Covid is how the technique – which is usually applied to a specific area of the body to perform a scan (photo) – would target the virus in a person’s body as it can spread to a large number of tissues, including the lungs, brain and nose
One problem is how the technique, which is normally applied to a specific area of the body to perform a scan, would target the virus in a person’s body as it can spread to a large number of tissues, including the lungs, brain and nose.
But MIT engineers say their study is the first to be found on a new avenue of research and more studies are needed to verify its long-term viability as a treatment.
‘We proved that under ultrasound excitation, the coronavirus shell and peaks will vibrate, and the amplitude of that vibration will be very large, producing strains that can break certain parts of the virus, causing visible damage to the outer shell and possibly invisible damage to the internal RNA’ says Professor Wierzbicki.
‘The hope is that our article will start a discussion in several disciplines.’
The full results are available in the Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids.
The researchers began to study the virus from the point of view of its structural integrity and not from a biological perspective.
All materials have a specific set of properties and will fail under certain conditions.
Information about its strength and flexibility was collected from previous studies and microscopic analyzes.
He revealed that the virus has a smooth shell – or envelope – that contains its genetic material. The bark is dotted with protruding proteins that look like spikes, giving it the appearance of a crown that led to the nickname ‘coronavirus’.
This information was inserted into a machine to model how the structure would behave in various circumstances.
“We don’t know the properties of the spike materials because they are very small – about 10 nanometers in height,” says Wierzbicki.
“Even more unknown is what is inside the virus, which is not empty, but full of RNA, which in turn is surrounded by a protein capsule. Therefore, this modeling requires many assumptions. We are confident that this elastic model is a good starting point. ‘