Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, science around the world has been working on ways to inactivate SARS-CoV-2. Among them is the use of ultrasound to break down the spike protein – the one responsible for invading human cells. Only now, the possibility has been tested – and successfully.
The technique created by the professor of Applied Mechanics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Tomasz Wierzbicki, was used by the researchers from USP. The work – carried out at the Institute of Physics of São Carlos (IFSC-USP) – confirmed the possibility, according to the results published in the online repository bioRxiv.
Even in a preprint version – when it still needs peer review – the study shows that the hypothesis can revolutionize the fight once morest the Covid-19 pandemic. IFSC-USP professor and researcher Odemir Bruno explained to FAPESP Agency that the methodology sought an ultrasound device that had frequencies that penetrate human skin and break the virus spike at the same time.
The experiment reached a unit that emits a specific frequency – 5/10 MHz – that would reach these conditions. When performing the procedure in vitroit was possible to reach the goal.
“We were lucky to find a single hospital device that emits this exact frequency (5/10 MHz). We were able to demonstrate experimentally that the technique works in vitro, being very effective in inactivating the virus and drastically reducing the viral load. We will still have to perform many procedures to better understand the phenomenon, but what is certain is that ultrasound destroys the virus and has the potential to become a powerful weapon that medicine can use to combat it.”
Odemir Bruno
Lecturer and researcher at the Institute of Physics of São Carlos (IFSC-USP)
Now, the next step is to know where this “shell” of the virus that is broken by ultrasound is located, in addition to identifying whether it is safe to use these waves in patients. Experiments with animals are already underway, and then clinical trials with humans will begin.
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