ReviewViruses2026
Can Non-Thermal Microwave Irradiation Inactivate Viruses? A Review with Some Computations.
Review in Viruses, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The use of non-thermal, human-safe electromagnetic (e.m.) waves in the GHz range to inactivate viruses has been proposed by a few groups. It is allegedly based on a transformation of a microwave photon into a phonon, which would produce a so-called Structure Resonance Energy Transfer (SRET) strong enough to break the capsid due to Confined Acoustic Vibration (CAV) at virus-specific frequencies. However, it is well known that e.m. photons' absorption in water or in organic media does not generate single phonons at the same frequency. Rather, it generates many thermal phonons across a wide frequency spectrum according to the widely known microwave heating effect, as exploited, inter alia, in the microwave oven. However, there remains interest in proposed usages of non-thermal microwave fields to inactivate respiratory viruses for air sanitization purposes. Hence, this paper poses the question: can human-safe microwave irradiation inactivate viruses?
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Registered trials
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