New Type of Sound Wave May Allow for Inhalable Vaccines

A new form of hybridized sound waves developed by Australian researchers may allow drugs and vaccines to be delivered to the body through a nebulizer in a fine mist inhaled into the lungs. The new sound waves, called “surface-reflected bulk waves,” combine two existing types — bulk waves (much like a carpet being shaken from one end to the other) and surface waves (like waves rolling across the surface of the ocean without affecting the depths) — that create a powerful wave with high frequencies but low amplitudes. The combined power of the surface and bulk waves means that drugs can be administered at a rate of up to 5.0 ml per minute rather than around 0.2 ml per minute. “It’s basically ‘yelling’ at the liquid so it vibrates, breaking it down into vapor,” said Amgad Rezk from Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT). “We have used the new sound waves to slash the time required for inhaling vaccines through the nebulizer device from 30 minutes to as little as 30 seconds.” The scientists are using a new device called HYDRA, built to take advantage of the new waves, to convert electricity passing through a piezoelectric chip into vibrating sound waves that are then used to break the liquid drugs into a spray. HYDRA in turn improves the effectiveness of the advanced nebulizer in use at RMIT.

What’s more, the new sound waves are gentle enough to be used in biomedical applications. “Our work also opens up the possibility of using stem cells more efficiently for treating lung disease, enabling us to nebulize stem cells straight into a specific site within the lung to repair damaged tissue,” adds Rezk. “This is a real game-changer for stem cell treatment in the lungs.”

The work was published in the journal Advanced Materials.