Ultrasound research such as that used to track the growth of a fetus can destroy coronavirus cells by forcing surface separation and implosion, new research suggests.
MIT researchers performed a mathematical analysis based on the physical properties of generic coronavirus cells.
He revealed that medical ultrasounds could damage the shell and spikes of the virus, causing it to collapse and rupture.
Ultrasound is already being used as a treatment for kidney stones, but the MIT team is calling for more research into its feasibility as a treatment for Covid-19.
In the picture, the process of emergence of SARS-CoV-2, virus that causes Covid-19. A computer study found that ultrasound waves between 25 MHz and 100 MHz are enough to cause the cell to collapse.
Computer simulations created a general coronavirus model, the family that includes Covid-19, influenza, 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 layer collapses because it resonates with the natural vibration frequency of the membrane.
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 the steps align with the natural properties of the bridge, it hesitates out of control.
This is exactly what happened in 2000 when the Millennium Bridge in London was opened and people’s footprints caused it to 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 was distorted and bent.
At 25 and 50 MHz, the process was further accelerated.
“These frequencies and intensities are within the range that is safely used for medical imaging,” says Tomasz Wierzbicki, a professor of applied mechanics at MIT and lead author of the study.
Scientists say the results are based on incomplete data on the physical properties of the virus 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 surround the viability of such a therapeutic technique.
One problem with using ultrasound to combat Covid is how the technique (which is usually applied to a specific area of the body to perform a scan (pictured)) would direct the virus to a person’s body as it it can spread to a large number of tissues, including the lungs, brain, and nose
One of the problems is how the technique, which is usually applied to a specific area of the body to perform a scan, would target the virus to a person’s body as it can spread to a large number of tissues, including the lungs, the brain and nose.
But MIT engineers say their study is the first discovery in a new line of research and more studies are needed to verify its long-term viability as a treatment.
“We have shown that under ultrasound excitation the coronavirus layer and tips will vibrate, and the amplitude of this vibration will be very large, producing strains that could break certain parts of the virus, causing visible damage to the outer shell and possibly invisible damage to the RNA inside, ”says Professor Wierzbicki.
“The hope is that our paper will initiate a debate across various disciplines.”
The complete findings are available in the Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids.
The researchers devoted themselves to studying 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 on its strength and flexibility was gathered from previous studies and microscopic analyzes.
He revealed that the virus has a smooth shell (or envelope) that contains its genetic material. The shell is salted with protruding proteins that look like spikes, giving it the crown appearance that gave rise to the nickname ‘coronavirus’.
This information was introduced into a machine to model the behavior of the structure under various circumstances.
“We don’t know the material properties of the tips because they’re 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 is surrounded by a protein capsid shell. Therefore, this modeling requires many assumptions. We are confident that this model elastic is a good starting point ”.