By Elie Dolgin

Countless technologies aim to give scientists accurate readouts of the key components of biological samples from patients. But what if it’s better to listen to a sample than to look at it? Elie Dolgin visits one company that’s adapting a vibration detector developed for telecommunication satellites to make what could be the most sensitive commercial biosensor ever built.

Mark Lundstrom has a pressing idea — quite literally — about how to improve the analysis of biological samples. To demonstrate the genesis of his concept, he reaches onto the bookshelf in the corner of his office and grabs a ruler-sized slab of metal mounted with an electronic instrument the shape of a checkbook. He arcs the contraption and two small LEDs start to blink from atop the attached gadget. “Here’s the first piezo that I ever made,” he says. “As this thing bends, you can see the energy being converted.”

Piezos like Lundstrom’s have come a long way. Short for ‘piezoelectric materials’, they get their name from the Greek word piezein, which means ‘to press’. These smart-material systems — which can generate electricity in response to a mechanical force, or, conversely, change shape due to an applied voltage — were first used during World War I in submarine navigation systems to detect sonar signals vibrating in the water. They are now routinely included in everything from aircraft wings to inkjet printers, among other applications.

Through a biotech venture called BioScale, Lundstrom is using piezos to create ultrasensitive assays for detecting proteins in complex biological samples. The technology “came from satellites,” Lundstrom says. “We terrestrialized it with things like skis, and we have ‘nanoized’ it — is that a word? — into biology.” Yet, unlike surveillance satellites, which use piezoelectric materials to dampen vibrations for steadier picture taking, or printer heads, which rely on piezo crystals to convert electrical signals into vibrations that force out tiny amounts of ink, the BioScale system applies the unique physical properties of piezos in a wholly new way by using changes in resonating frequencies to quantify the presence of proteins and other biomarkers in a biological sample.

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