Evening star., 1950-12-22
Brains Bel b Explored
By Sound uve Beams
New Meth Aids in Location
OfTumor}nd Automobiles
By Thone R. Henry

oy tHoIP n. HSHTy
Brains are beinexplored with beams
of sound waves.
The method evsually may prove SUI
perlor to X-radiath in location of brain
tumors and other bnormalities, accord
ing to report to De American Associa-
ton for the Advafment of Science by
Dr. H. T. Ballantir1and his associates of
the acoustics labatory of the Massa-
chusetts Institute Technology.
1t is based on II loss of intensity Of
these sound beams composed of sound
waves far above e range of human
hearing, between btering and leaving
the brain. Experillnts on all sorts of
tissue have eStablhed the amount of
sound lost by seating, absorption, ETC.,
when passing thr&h skin. bone, grey
matter, white maer, and the fluid
filled ventricles i1tie the brain. Loss
differs for each ofhese.
Value of NJ Technique.
The great value the new technique
Is in locating distdons in the position
of these ventriclessuch as would be
caused by brainkmor. A standard
for loss of sound tensity for a beam
passing through tn brain at q certain
angle can be estalShed. A variation
of this shows thatbme abnormal pro-
cess is in the way, bpecially ventricle
pushed out OF its nmal position.
The same can be ine with X-rays. but
1t first is necessaryD fill the ventricles
with air. This is a Implicated and un-
comfortable process The new method
still is in pioneerii stage, it is empha-
sized in the report 1t is we'll known,
Tor example, that Ua-Sonic waves can
injure tissues if tH exceed a certain
intensity.
Tests are in progfS on animal brains
to determine the lifts of safety. The
object is to utilize level of intensity
well below any Dwn threshold Of
damage or pain.
There is possibly, it is emphasized,
of locating directly ftain types of brain
tumors in which the has been calcifl-
cation or cyst forntion.
Nv
Temperatures as lgh as 5000 cent?
grade can be obtafd in less than 10
seconds, even on slittly cloudy days, by
focusing the heatof the sun with
mirrors on a small lea.
This is reported the Navy by DR..
William M. Conn oRockhurst College,
Illinois. relating to pgress with his new
solar furnace construed under an Office
of Naval Research ant.
1t promises to an exceptionally
valuable tool for schtific research. It
enables the researctorker to bring the
most refractory sueances up to tenn
peratures of as highs 5000 centigrade
in few minutes. 1t can melt any
material which calbe heated in air,
according to DR.. CHS report.
Cooling Exttnely Rapid.
An additional vail is that cooling Is
extremely rapid an&here is no danger
of contamination othe materials. The
disadvantage naturE is that the para
bolic mirrors-the tgest is 100 inches
in diameter-must fus the solar radia-
ton on very mine area. The maxi
mum temperature attained over a
surface 4 or inch in diameter.
The process is lite picturesque to
watch. DR.. Conn sal, Some such sub
stance as fire brici which withstands
temperatures up tol.0O0 Fahrenheit, is
placed in the focus, For a few seconds
nothing happens. len very suddenly it
becomes white hot. \ second or so later
it starts "to boil likeutter on a griddle"
Then vapor clouds $se from it.
It is like lookinat a small part Of
the surface of the ST itself, he explains.
Work still is con4uing, the physicist
says, to perfect the blar furnace before
using it on a widetariety Of research
projects.