As France implements new lockdowns amid the ongoing pandemic, researchers at MIT are investigating a promising avenue: ultrasound vibrations that could dismantle the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
While vaccination campaigns continue worldwide, effective treatments for COVID-19 remain elusive more than a year after the virus emerged. A new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), set for publication in the Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids in May 2021, offers fresh insights.
MIT scientists developed computer models of the coronavirus's structure and exposed them to ultrasound at varying frequencies. Their findings show that these vibrations cause key viral components to break apart.
This approach warrants further investigation to determine the precise ultrasound frequencies that can neutralize the coronavirus safely, without harming human tissues.
Ultrasound consists of mechanical waves with frequencies ranging from 16,000 to 10,000,000 Hertz—beyond human hearing. It's already a staple in medical imaging and therapies, such as breaking down kidney stones.
"We have proven that under ultrasonic excitation, the envelope and spikes of the coronavirus will vibrate with large amplitudes, producing strains that could fracture parts of the virus, causing visible damage to the outer envelope and possibly invisible damage to the internal RNA," explains Tomasz Wierzbicki, the study's lead author.
With vaccines as the primary defense against SARS-CoV-2, this ultrasound research merits serious consideration. MIT urges cross-disciplinary collaboration to advance this potential breakthrough.
