Those of you who follow the good doctor’s adventures on the TV (Dr Who, who else? Pardon the pun though) will most probably wished to have the Sonic Screwdriver at one time or another, and perhaps truth is stranger than fiction as researchers over at Dundee University have managed to come up with a real life version which would make for a very passable Dr Who Sonic Screwdriver. This particular device will rely on ultrasound to lift and rotate a rubber disc that floats in a cylinder of water, and marks the first time (according to the University) that ultrasound waves have been used to turn objects instead of just pushing them. This particular technique would help make surgery more precise, being able to treat a range of conditions in a patient without carving him or her open.
With the ability to concentrate ultrasound waves to the precise spot where they are required would make those treatments far more effective, and for instance, the ultrasound waves can also be used to guide a drug capsule through the body, activating it later when it has arrived at the intended destination – within a tumor, for instance. Just like the Dr Who Sonic Screwdriver, the one by Dundee University is also capable of far more than “just spinning things around”.
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