CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Almost everyone is familiar with ultrasound – the high-frequency sound waves that bounce around in the body creating echo patterns that allow expectant parents to view their babies in the womb or clinicians to capture images of tumors, cysts and internal structures.
As I pull on a white lab coat and don the hairnet and plastic goggles that are required for entering our lab in the Agricultural Engineering Sciences building, I think about how I’m preparing to use ultrasound waves in a new way. I will use them to dry a high-protein gel made from peas, lentils or almonds to create a dehydrated food product that can be used by the food and biotech industries.