The power of collapsing bubbles (Image: Christopher Stevenson / Photonica / Getty)
JETS of fluid propelled by the collapse of microscopic bubbles could deliver drugs directly into cancer cells, if an idea from a team of engineers pays off. They have made the bubbles project a fine jet that is powerful enough to puncture the cell wall and enter the cell.
Applying a pulse of heat or ultrasound to a fluid can produce bubbles that initially expand rapidly, before collapsing suddenly when the pulse ends. Pei Zhong and his team at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, knew that…
