The new acoustic lense. Scientists at CSIC, together with scientists at the Spanish universities (Universidad de Cadiz and Universidad de Valencia) have developed a new technology to build tridimensional acoustic lenses that makes possible to obtain 3D images through ultrasounds.
Acoustic lenses are devices that, similarly to what glasses or a magnifying glass do, focus and address the sound to obtain an image through frequencies of sound. It is possible then to get images similar to conventional echograms but with better quality and in three dimensions.
The new development could be used for non-invasive surgery, biomedical research, the development of high precision echograms or for other fields such as physiotherapy or to fight against acoustic pollution.
The device could be used also as a non-destructive way of seeing and analyze the inside of non transparent objects, such as bridges, ships structures o plain wings, which could be useful when checking for cracks or similar problems.
Another possible application is the treatment of kidney stones. As scientists explain, “modifying the device frequency it is possible to control the point of maximum power, to focus inside the body and therefore to eliminate the kidney stone without harming the surrounding tissue”.
Similarly could be used to develop a non-invasive scalpel to remove cancerous tissues inside the body.
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