SRINAGAR: Coronaviruses may be vulnerable to ultrasound vibrations, within the frequencies used in medical examination imaging, researchers said.
Through computer simulations, the team modeled the virus’s mechanical response to vibration over a range of ultrasound frequencies and found that vibration between 25 and 100 megahertz induced the virus’s shell and spikes to collapse and begin to break sideways. within a fraction of a million miles.
This effect was observed in simulations of the virus in air and water, said the researchers, including Tomasz Wierzbicki of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
“We have shown, under ultrasound excitation, that the coronavirus shell and spikes are activated, and that the magnitude of that vibration is very large, emitting rays that can break down certain parts of the virus. , causing visible damage to the outer shell and possibly invisible damage to the inner RNA, ”said Wierzbicki.
The structure of the coronavirus is a very familiar image, with the surface receptors full of folds resembling a crown of thorns, the team said.
These spike-like proteins give birth to healthy cells and attack viral RNA. Although the geometry strategy and infection of the virus are generally understood, little is known about physical integrity.
For the study, published in the Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, the team introduced acoustic vibrations into the symbols and observed how the vibrations passed through the structure of the virus across a range. de triceadan ultrasound.
The team started with vibrations of 100 megahertz, or 100 million cycles per second, which they estimated would be the natural vibration frequency of the shell, based on what we know about the physical properties of the virus.
When they exposed the virus to 100 MHz ultrasound invitations, the natural vibrations of the virus were not initially unknown. But within a millisecond fraction, the external vibrations, rising with the frequency of the virus’ natural oscillations, caused the shell and spikes to invade, resembling a ball that tumbling while kicking off the ground.
As the researchers increased the magnitude, or intensity, of the vibrations, the shell could break – an acoustic phenomenon called resonance that also explains how opera singers can crack a wine glass if they singing at the right level and at the right size.
At lower frequencies of 25 MHz and 50 MHz, the virus pushes and breaks down even faster, both in typical air environments, and in water that is similar in density to liquids in the body. . (IANS)