TEL AVIV, Israel, June 23 /PRNewswire/ -- The principle behind the phenomenon of an opera singer shattering a glass with a piercing high-pitched note could be the basis for a new cancer treatment being developed by researchers in Israel.The researchers propose to use ultrasound waves at very high frequencies to shatter cancer cells without damaging surrounding healthy cells. The idea of using ultrasound energy to break down structures is already used to treat kidney stones.
The theory is based on the fact that the frequencies at which an object will vibrate (resonant frequencies) are determined by the structural properties of the object. Therefore, since structural properties of internal parts of cancer cells (such as the nucleus) are, in fact, different from those of healthy cells, cancer cells and healthy cells should vibrate at different frequencies. By introducing sound at the resonant frequencies unique to cancer cells, it should be possible to cause severe destructive vibration exclusively in cancer cells, while healthy cells and other tissue cells will remain unaffected.
"The basic idea is strikingly simple and even obvious, but yet no one else has taken this approach," said William Drewes, a computer systems analyst who has patented the method and set up a start-up company, Cancer Sonics, to develop the technology.
Drewes and his colleagues have launched a web site (www.cancer-sonics.com) detailing the technology to attract scientific scrutiny as well as corporate and institutional backing. They need up to $6 million for staff, facilities and equipment to conduct a series of invitro experiments to prove the viability of the approach.
Professor Giora Rosenhouse, professor of acoustics at the Israel Institute of Technology, who is a consultant to the project, said that the theory and evidence so far suggested that acoustic resonance could be used to destroy cancer without the need for chemotherapy or radiation.
Mr. Drewes can be contacted via e-mail at contact@cancer-sonics.com.
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