EMERALD - ElectroMagnetic imaging for a novel genERation of medicAL Devices, (2018-2022) - Responsabile Scientifico
UE-funded research - H2020 - Excellent Science - Marie Curie
Abstract
EMERALD (ElectroMagnetic imaging for a novel genERation of medicAL Devices) is the coherent action of leading European engineering groups involved in electromagnetic (EM) technology for medical imaging to form a cohort of highly-skilled researchers capable of accelerating the translation of this technology “from research bench to patient bedside”. Nowadays, medical imaging technologies play a key role to face the ever-growing number of challenges due to aging populations, as they are the essential clinical tool to deliver accurate initial diagnosis and monitor the evolution of disease over time. For this reason, a whole range of new imaging modalities is currently being developed to supplement and support current modalities. Among these technologies, there is EM imaging, which involves the illumination of the portion of the body under investigation with low-power non-ionizing EM waves (in the microwave spectrum) and the use of the resultant backscattered signals to generate images of the internal structures of the body. The scientific objective pursued by the EMERALD action is to accelerate translation of research in EM medical imaging into clinical prototypes. To this end, EMERALD will establish a group of 13 outstanding early stage researchers who will be the European leaders in this field, through a unique scientific and training programme. The EMERALD trained researchers will drive the future developments of EM imaging technology, thanks to the targeted skills, they will attain, and their established connections with clinicians and stakeholders.
Foreign body contamination in food is one of the major sources of complaints against food manufacturers, and can lead to injury, loss of brand loyalty and large recall expenses. Complaints have risen year on year driven by numerous factors, such as more mechanized process chain, increasing variety of materials present in the production chain, and growing consumer awareness. Different technologies, such as X-ray or infrared techniques, are currently applied to detection systems used for food inspection, but physical contamination, with e.g. wood, plastic, metal and glass, is still present in food. In the last years, possibly due to the increasing automation of supply chains, the occurrence of metal incidents has risen and incidents with plastics and glass remain significant. For this reason, there is the need to develop new technologies capable to address the still unmet needs of food industry. In the MIT-food project, we will investigate the use of the microwave imaging (MWI) technology for food contamination monitoring. MWI is able, throughlow-power electromagnetic (EM) waves at microwave frequencies, to non-invasively penetrate an object and provide a spatial map of its EM properties. Such a capability is herein relevant due to intrinsic difference in such properties between food and contaminants.The main objective of the MIT-Food project is to realize a prototypal device able to identify foreign objects in food using microwave imaging. This technology will be non-destructive and contactless, safe for operators (thanks to the use of low-power, non-ionizing radiations), able to provide inline monitoring in food manufacturing (thanks to tailored processing algorithms and their hardware implementation), easy to use and cost-efficient (thanks to low-cost technologies). The proposed research is strongly interdisciplinary crossing different fields: electromagnetism and imaging, electronic systems, chemistry and microbiology, and food science and technology.
Con il progetto MiBraScan verrà sviluppato un nuovo dispositivo in grado di monitorare in tempo reale un paziente dopo un ictus cerebrale e di fornire immagini aggiuntive per supportare la fase diagnostica. La tecnologia alla base è l’imaging a microonde che sfrutta la differenza di proprietà dielettriche dei tessuti umani.
Consolidamento delle tecniche MoM di compressione multi-livello per l’analisi elettromagnetica di oggetti complessi ed elettricamente grandi. Upgrade 2015, (2015-2015) - Responsabile Scientifico
TECNICHE MOM DI COMPRESIONE MULTI-LIVELLO PER L'ANALISI ELETTROMAGNETICA DI OGGETTI COMPLESSI ED ELETTRICAMENTE GRANDI, (2012-2012) - Responsabile Scientifico
