Shaping the smallest 3D objects with sound waves

New 3D printing technology Shaping the smallest 3D objects with sound waves

2023-02-21 Source: MPI for Medical Research / Editor: Dorothee Quitter 2 min Reading Time

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Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research and the University of Heidelberg have developed a new 3D printing technology. With the help of acoustic holograms, solid particles or biological cells are assembled into a three-dimensional object using ultrasound.

Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research and the Institute for Molecular Systems Engineering and Advanced Materials at the University of Heidelberg have developed a new technology that allows matter to be 3D printed in just one step. In this process, ultrasound creates a sound field in which particles are shaped into an object.(Image: Kai Melde - MPI for Medical Research) — Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research and the Institute for Molecular Systems Engineering and Advanced Materials at the University of Heidelberg have developed a new technology that allows matter to be 3D printed in just one step. In this process, ultrasound creates a sound field in which particles are shaped into an object.
(Image: Kai Melde - MPI for Medical Research)

3D printing allows for the production of complex parts from various, even biological materials. Since the objects are built up layer by layer, the process takes some time. Researchers in Heidelberg and Tübingen are now showing how to form a 3D object from smaller building blocks in just one step. They use targeted and shaped ultrasound for this purpose. This is very useful for so-called bioprinting, as the cells used there are particularly sensitive to environmental influences. And ultrasound is a gentle method, it is said.

The power of sound waves

Sound waves exert forces on matter – a fact known to any concert-goer who has experienced the pressure waves of a speaker. With high-frequency ultrasound, which is inaudible to the human ear, the wavelengths can be moved below one millimeter into the microscopic range, with which researchers can now manipulate very small building blocks like biological cells.

Generating ultrasound using acoustic holograms

In previous studies, researchers from Heidelberg demonstrated how ultrasound can be generated using acoustic holograms - 3D printed plates designed to encode a specific sound field. They showed that these sound fields can be used to assemble materials into two-dimensional patterns.

Combination of acoustic holograms

In their new study, the team was able to take the idea a step further. They used several acoustic holograms together and were thus able to form a sound field that can trap particles and cells floating freely in water and assemble them into three-dimensional shapes. The digitalization of an entire 3D object into ultrasound hologram fields is very computationally intensive and requires new computing routines. The new method is supposed to work with a variety of materials, including glass or hydrogel beads and biological cells. The scientists believe that their technology represents a major advance for the formation of cell cultures and tissues in 3D.

To the original publication in the scientific journal Science Advances

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