Researcher Asier Marzo Pérez and professor Bruce Drinkwater have developed a system called holographic acoustic tweezers (HAT) that can levitate and manipulate multiple particles individually using sound.
HAT is composed of two arrays that are placed opposite to one another. With the arrays made up of 256 speakers each measuring one centimetre in diameter, the speakers are connected to a computer so that the sounds emitted can be controlled independently. A sound-reflective surfaces is also laid on the ground between the arrays.
By emitting 40-kilohertz range sound waves, multiple particles at the micrometre and centimetre scale can be controlled.
For a demonstration, Styrofoam balls measuring three millimetres in diameter were manipulated to form various formations.
The researchers have stated in their paper that HAT could “lead to biomedical applications”.
“The flexibility of the ultrasound waves enables us to operate on micrometric scales to move cells within printed 3D structures or living tissue,” said Marzo in a statement.
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