Acoustic Resonance of Biological Micro- and Nanostructures: From Detection to Selective Disruption
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Acoustic excitation provides a physical means of interrogating and modifying biological structures, yet the relationship between resonance, energy absorption and irreversible damage remains incompletely established. This narrative review connects early proposals for resonant viral inactivation with later advances in viral mechanics, cell disruption, microbubble dynamics and genetically encoded acoustic nanostructures. A unifying framework is developed around eigenfrequencies, coupling to an incident field, damping, nonlinear response and failure thresholds. Particular emphasis is placed on distinguishing measured structural resonances from frequency-dependent biological effects that arise from cavitation, heating or exposure geometry. Recent observations of single-virus vibrations and ultrasound-mediated disruption of enveloped viruses are assessed alongside oncotripsy and gas-vesicle imaging and mechanotherapy. Worked examples illustrate size-dependent frequency scales, resonance linewidths, pulse buildup, bubble oscillations and the practical limits of spectral selectivity. Detection and disruption are treated as distinct operating regimes of a coupled mechanical system rather than interchangeable evidence of a single mechanism. The most robust applications combine calibrated acoustic fields with independent mechanical measurements and clear biological endpoints. Future progress will require linking a measured mode to absorbed energy, structural failure and target-specific loss of function under realistic environmental conditions.
Source: Applied Sciences
DOI: 10.3390/app162110996
Language: English
Subfield: Biomedical Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,896
OpenAlex ID: W7225427151