The tractor beam is a science fiction staple seen in movies such as "Star Wars" and "Star Trek" but thanks to a team of researchers led by Asier Marzo, from Britain's University of Bristol, the technology is now a reality.
On Tuesday, Oct. 27, the researchers reported that they have developed the once fictional tractor beam. The device uses ultrasound at a frequency of 40 kilohertz to levitate, rotate and move things sans the need to make contact with them.
The tractor beam presented by Hollywood has the ability to remotely pull in spaceships and other things but the technology developed by the researchers is still in its infancy. It can only remotely move small objects at this time. Nonetheless, the research team already envisioned a range of applications for the device.
Marzo and colleagues said the technology could pave way for "containerless transportation," which could have uses in areas where materials are considered dangerous to handle or at high risk of getting contaminated.
"Sound can levitate objects of different sizes and materials through air, water and tissue. This allows us to manipulate cells, liquids, compounds or living things without touching or contaminating them," the researchers wrote in their study published in the journal Nature Communications.
"Acoustic structures shaped as tweezers, twisters or bottles emerge as the optimum mechanisms for tractor beams or containerless transportation."
The researchers said that the technology could be used in a factory setting with a "sonic production line" transporting and assembling sterile and delicate objects.
It can also have useful applications in the field of medicine wherein drug capsules can be transported through tissue by means of targeted drug delivery.
To date, patients often have to undergo surgical operations to address serious health problems or risks but the technology may possibly pave way for knife-free medical procedures.
"Sound cannot travel through the void of space, but it can do it through water or human tissue. This potentially enables the manipulation of clots, kidney stones, drug capsules, microsurgical instruments or cells inside our body without any incision," Marzo said.
The researchers also said that a more powerful sonic tractor beam with the capability of moving bigger objects from greater distances may find use in controlling objects that float in micro-g environments such as inside the International Space Station.
