A carbon-nanotube-coated lens that converts light to sound
can focus high-pressure sound waves to finer points than ever before. The
University of Michigan engineering researchers who developed the new therapeutic
ultrasound approach say it could lead to an invisible knife for noninvasive
surgery.
Today's ultrasound technology enables far more than glimpses
into the womb. Doctors routinely use focused sound waves to blast apart kidney
stones and prostate tumors, for example. The tools work primarily by focusing
sound waves tightly enough to generate heat, says Jay Guo, a professor of
electrical engineering and computer science, mechanical engineering, and
macromolecular science and engineering. Guo is a co-author of a paper on the
new technique published in the current issue of Nature's journal Scientific
Reports.