Ultrasound waves are high frequency sound waves which can be used to probe physico-chemical properties of compounds. The velocity of ultrasound travelling through a medium is influenced by the material density and compressibility, and the amplitude of the signal is affected by factors such as viscosity, thermal conductivity, particle scattering and molecular relaxation. Therefore valuable structural information can be recorded, especially on proteins, as the three dimensional structure of these molecules is particularly sensitive to their environment (including buffer, pH, temperature etc.) and will be affected by the pressure and temperature changes generated by the ultrasound wave.
Current applications of ultrasound spectroscopy include food analysis, particle sizing, phase transition (such as crystallisation and solubility studies), acid/base properties of polypeptides and protein conformation changes.
The poster presented in the attached pdf won a prize at the autumn meeting of the Pharmaceutical Analytical Science Group (PASG), which took place in Kettering on the 6 October 2003.