Thanks for that link, Elizabeth. An article on CK appeared in the local paper, I think last Sunday.
Actually, it is RF (radio waves) used in this surgery, not sound waves. And I don't think this particular surgery is done using multiple, insersecting beams. However, I believe that there are other types of surgery being done using that technique.
It is similar in technique, but not quite the same physics as the technique being used by ATCO with sound waves.
In surgery, the idea is to use multiple RF sources, each of which is too weak to cause tissue damage. Where the waves intersect, though, there is enough energy to destroy cells. The beams are directed to intersect in the area of the cancer cells.
Kinda like my idea for the ultimate microwave oven. I assume that somebody else has thought of this, but I don't think it's ever been reduced to practical practice. The oven would somehow know (camera?) what you put in the oven (a turkey, for example) and scan the food with multile RF beams to provide just the right amount of energy for each part of the food. (Less energy for the drumsticks, more for the breast.)
The ATCO sound technology takes advantage of mixing between two high-frequency (inaudible) sound waves, to produce an audible wave that can only be heard in the area where the waves intersect. If you generate, for example, a 50 kHz sound wave and a 51 kHz sound wave (both inaudible to humans) they will mix to create an (audible) 1 kHz tone.
The difference is that in the surgery, they are combining waves in order to produce a high field strengh in a limited area. In the case of Woody's audio technology, they are combining waves in order to produce audible mixing products.
I do think it's very cool, "gee whiz" technology. And I do applaud Woody for bringing it to the point of practicality after all these many years. It has a lot of applications in safety (factory floor, for example), advertising (walk near a kiosk and hear the pitch, walk away and hear blessed silence), exhibitions, etc.
Bet Woody read Popular Science as a kid too. :)
See, I do not bear any animosity toward Woody. I give him his due where it is deserved. |
