Creating new drugs has traditionally required thousands of hours spent testing cells in petri dishes before treatments can reach patients. Even in 2025, much of this process remains manual, making it time-consuming, costly, and occasionally unreliable—significantly slowing down the development of life-saving therapies.

While some lab tasks like pipetting and liquid handling have been automated, growing and manipulating cells is still a complex challenge. This process often depends on multiple pieces of specialized equipment, including centrifuges and incubators, all of which must work together seamlessly. The more machines involved, the more expensive and complex the system becomes—making it inaccessible for many smaller labs, especially since the costly equipment may wear out before delivering a return on investment.

Enter Impulsonics, a spin-out company from the University of Bristol, where engineers have unveiled a groundbreaking solution: acoustic wave technology that can move cells without ever touching them. This innovation replaces traditional bulky hardware with a compact benchtop device capable of handling critical lab tasks more efficiently.

By harnessing acoustic waves to make cells “dance” mid-air, researchers can grow and manipulate cells without the need for extensive infrastructure. This not only streamlines the process but could also transform the future of medicine. With automated, contact-free cell handling, drug discovery could accelerate significantly. The technology even hints at the possibility of personalized medicine—where doctors might one day test various treatments on a patient’s own cells to find the most effective option before actual treatment begins.

The journey began with Dr. Luke Cox, who first experimented with acoustic levitation and managed to suspend a diamond in mid-air, defying gravity. Inspired by this “magical” effect, he saw its potential for delicately handling small biological materials—like cells. This idea eventually evolved into a broader vision: reimagining many standard biomedical lab processes with sound waves.

Now, Dr. Cox and his team have refined the technology to perform complex tasks, such as expanding populations of cells. He emphasized its potential to dramatically speed up drug screening, which could fast-track the development of treatments for diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s.

Professor Bruce Drinkwater, co-founder of Impulsonics and a professor at the University of Bristol, highlighted the device’s compact design. “It has a footprint half the size of a standard lab bench, compared to earlier technologies that filled entire rooms,” he explained. “More importantly, it produces high-quality data quickly—something critically needed in biomedical research.”

This innovation marks a major leap forward, not just in lab efficiency, but in the possibilities it unlocks for science, medicine, and the future of healthcare.

By Impact Lab