The real sonic screwdrivers
The real sonic screwdrivers
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真正的声波螺丝刀
DOI：
10.1088/2058-7058/24/06/32
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发表时间：
2011
期刊：
影响因子：
0.6
通讯作者：
Drinkwater B
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Drinkwater B
当一个小物体，比如一簇细胞，被放置在声波或超声波力场中时，它会迅速移动到该力场的局部稳定区域——就像大理石滚动到起伏表面的最低点一样（图1a）。当力场的形状发生变化时，细胞团也会在其中发生变化。这样，通过控制力场的形状，就有可能移动细胞群，将它们聚集在一起，并将它们组装成类似组织的结构。目前，声学镊子仍然是一种新技术，因此它究竟可以实现什么，以及在哪里部署它们仍然是一个悬而未决的问题。然而，也有一些有趣的可能性。例如，想象一下，在超声波的作用下，三片细胞被小心地聚集在一起，形成一个“细胞三明治”，同时悬浮在半空中（见第27页<细胞三明治>）。当正确类型的细胞以这种方式聚集在一起时，它们将结合形成一小块组织，其结构与人类肺的内膜相同：一边是称为上皮细胞的扩散促进层，另一边是称为成纤维细胞的结缔组织，中间夹着一些精选的免疫细胞。从这里开始，可以想象一条生产线，其中大量的这些微小的工程组织片段被组装起来，然后用于快速测试不同强度和类型的哮喘药物。以这种方式组装组织所需的三维超声力场尚未开发。然而，几组科学家和工程师正在使用各种超声波设备来研究这种情况，似乎是可以实现的。尽管存在一些挑战，但这些现实生活中的设备成为微纳米制造的标准工具，将神秘博士的“声波螺丝刀”从科幻小说变成现实，可能只是时间问题。
Constructing tissue with sound When a small object such as a cluster of cells is placed in an acoustic or ultrasonic force field, it will quickly move towards locally stable regions of the field–much like a marble rolls to the low point of an undulating surface (figure 1a). As the shape of the force field shifts, the cell cluster will shift within it. In this way, by controlling the shape of the force field, it may be possible to move clusters of cells around, bring them together and assemble them into structures that resemble tissue. At the moment, acoustic tweezers are still quite new, so it remains an open question as to exactly what can be achieved with them, and where they are best deployed. However, there are some intriguing possibilities. Imagine, for example, three sheets of cells being carefully brought together to form a “cell sandwich” while suspended in mid-air by ultrasonic forces (see box on p27). When the right types of cells are brought together in this way, they will bond to form a small piece of tissue that has the same structure as the lining of human lungs: a diffusion-facilitating layer called the epithelium on one side, connective tissues known as fibroblasts on the other, and a selection of immune cells sandwiched between them. From here, it is possible to imagine a production line in which large numbers of these tiny pieces of engineered tissue are assembled, and are then used to quickly test different strengths and types of asthma drugs.The 3D ultrasonic force field needed to assemble tissue in this way has not yet been developed. However, several groups of scientists and engineers are using a variety of ultrasonic devices to investigate this type of scenario, and it seems to be within reach. Despite some challenges, it is likely to be just a matter of time before these real-life devices become standard tools for microand nanofabrication, turning Doctor Who’s “sonic screwdrivers” from science fiction into reality.