Acoustic method for levitation of small living animals

Ultrasonic levitation of some small living animals such as ant, ladybug, and young fish has been achieved with a single-axis acoustic levitator. The vitality of ant and ladybug is not evidently influenced during the acoustic levitation, whereas that of the young fish is reduced because of the inadequacy of water supply. Numerical analysis shows that the sound pressures on the ladybug’s surface almost reach the incident pressure amplitude p0 due to sound scattering. It is estimated that 99.98% of the acoustic energy is reflected away from the ladybug. The acoustic radiation pressure pa on the ladybug’s surface is only 1%–3% of p0, which plays a compression role on the central region and a suction role on the peripheral region.