Sonic Cure
A blocked coronary artery can lead to a fatal heart attack, and few treatment options exist. Surgeons can thread a tiny, laser-tipped wire through the artery to peck away at the clot, but if that doesn’t work, they may need to perform open-heart surgery, as they do with 360,000 patients a year. Wilmington, MA-based OmniSonics has an alternative: a wire about the width of the thinnest violin string that emits sound waves. Instead of focusing its energy only straight ahead, as lasers do, the wire produces acoustic energy that radiates outward 360 degrees along its entire length, dissolving the clot and other material built up in the artery but leaving the vessel itself unharmed. The company intends to begin testing on cardiac patients before the end of the year and hopes for U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval by late fall.
Keep Reading
Most Popular
Large language models can do jaw-dropping things. But nobody knows exactly why.
And that's a problem. Figuring it out is one of the biggest scientific puzzles of our time and a crucial step towards controlling more powerful future models.
How scientists traced a mysterious covid case back to six toilets
When wastewater surveillance turns into a hunt for a single infected individual, the ethics get tricky.
The problem with plug-in hybrids? Their drivers.
Plug-in hybrids are often sold as a transition to EVs, but new data from Europe shows we’re still underestimating the emissions they produce.
Google DeepMind’s new generative model makes Super Mario–like games from scratch
Genie learns how to control games by watching hours and hours of video. It could help train next-gen robots too.
Stay connected
Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.