Lifeboat Foundation

The new sound-based method moves objects regardless of surroundings or properties.

Researchers have successfully manipulated the movement of objects using sound. They directed floating objects around obstacles in an aquatic environment, unveiling new possibilities for noninvasive, targeted drug delivery and other biomedical applications.

Researchers from EPFL’s School of Engineering employed optics-inspired techniques to achieve this object manipulation.

“Optical tweezers work by creating a light ‘hotspot’ to trap particles, like a ball falling into a hole. But if there are other objects in the vicinity, this hole is difficult to create and move around,” said Romain Fleury, head of the Laboratory of Wave Engineering in EPFL’s School of Engineering.