The following news conference will take place in the Whidbey Room of the Westin Seattle Hotel, 1900 Fifth Avenue, Seattle, Washington. It will occur at an international meeting devoted exclusively to the science of acoustics: the Joint 16th International Congress on Acoustics (ICA) and the 135th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA), to take place between June 20-26 at the Seattle Sheraton Hotel and Towers and the Westin Seattle. A news release on the meeting can be found at http://www.acoustics.org/press_release.html.

Using Ultrasound To Inject Insulin, Enhance Gene Therapy, Activate Anticancer Drugs, And Break Up Blood Clots

Yosi Kost of MIT (617-253-5359) will discuss sonophoresis, the use of sound waves in place of needles to inject drugs such as insulin and interferon directly through the skin (3aBV3). Using this technique, the Ekos Corporation in Bothell, Washington (contact Tom Keenan or Joe Eichinger, 425-482-1108) is developing an acoustically based insulin-delivery system for people with diabetes. James Greenleaf of the Mayo Clinic (507-284-8496) will describe how ultrasound may aid the introduction of genetic material in living cells (3aBV6).

Pierre Mourad of the University of Washington (206-543-6921) will describe the technique of ultrasound enhanced thrombolysis (UET)--the use of ultrasound to destroy blot clots everywhere in the body (5aBVb1). George H. Harrison of the University of Maryland at Baltimore (410-706-7133) will discuss sonodynamic therapy--the process of using sound to activate drugs at specific sites in the body (3pBV2) Developing anti-cancer drugs that are activated by ultrasound only at the desired regions can potentially minimize the devastating effects of chemotherapy.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION BEFORE JUNE 22: Please feel free to call Ben Stein of the American Institute of Physics at 301-209-3091. To read the abstracts of the papers mentioned in the news conference description, go to the ICA/ASA Meeting Abstracts Database (asa.aip.org/asasearch.html) and type in the paper code.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFO DURING THE WEEK OF JUNE 22: Please feel free to call Ben Stein at the meeting newsroom: 206-727-7617 and 206-727-7618. The newsroom will be located at the Blakely Room of the Westin, and the hours will be Monday-Wednesday, June 22-24, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., and Thursday, June 25 from 8 a.m.-12 p.m.