The use of sound in medical research - Sound heals!
Medical studies coming from Stanford Medicine report on the innovative uses of sound in new diagnostic tools.
Hanae Armitage, science writer for the Stanford Medicine Magazine, writes on sound’s effect on heart cells under the microscope.
Intricate pattern formations of heart cells
“Heart cells are among the most densely packed in the body — about 100 million fit into a space the size of a sugar cube. The compact structure crams the cells so close together that they can communicate with one another and beat as one lump. For tissue engineers, however, it poses a tricky hurdle: Pack the cells too tightly and some won’t get proper nutrients; too loosely and they can’t coordinate a beat.”
By using an acoustic signal that creates Faraday waves, scientists can influence the movement of heart cells to form precise patterns. Changing the frequency changes the pattern.
“Unlike other tissue engineering tactics, acoustics position the heart cells in a tight configuration that closely resembles natural cardiac tissue, turning the resulting, beating blob into something valuable for medicine.”
Potential uses of this acoustic engineering include cardiac disease modeling and eventually (but more distantly) creating heart patches for heart attack victims and other patients suffering from heart related problems.
Armitage also reports on the “brain stethoscope” devised by neurologist Josef Parvisi.
“The instrument, which is noninvasive and looks like a sweatband, straps onto a person’s head and listens to the brain’s electrical signals. With a push of a button, those signals are converted to sound that streams from a small speaker connected to the band. The thought is that doctors can “hear” the tone of the brain — particularly if there is a seizure.”
This allows for the monitoring of potential seizures that may have subtle, indistinguishable symptoms, but have adverse health effects.
We have long since known that ultrasound, the use of sound waves in diagnostic technology, is a safe and effective medical tool. This method is now being applied to medical chips that are designed to be implanted and programmed to monitor or treat various health conditions.
“In a closed-loop system, the chip’s sensors would trigger the release of a dose of its therapeutic agent, which could be an electrical pulse or a drug enclosed in a separate chamber of the chip. In patients with hypertension, for instance, the implant would monitor the arteries. If the chip sensed increased blood pressure, it would administer a drug to help bring the pressure down.”
To read the full article visit https://stanmed.stanford.edu/innovations-helping-harness-sound-acoustics-healing/
Works Cited:
Armitage, Hanae. “Scientific innovations harness noise and acoustics for healing.” Stanford Medicine Magazine, 21 May 2018, https://stanmed.stanford.edu/innovations-helping-harness-sound-acoustics-healing/
