Wireless Sensing
Metamaterials can manipulate electromagnetic waves in ways that have not been possible until now, opening the door to a new generation of medical diagnostic tools. META is developing a range of devices that integrate metamaterials with unique properties for a range of different applications, including:
Non-invasive Glucose Sensing
Our proprietary wearable metamaterial film allows low power radio waves to safely pass through the skin collecting data from the blood.
Radio Wave Imaging
Our scientists are developing a portable, low-cost system that also uses an in-house designed metamaterial film to conduct fast, on-site scans for two main applications; stroke detection in the brain, and tumors in the breast.
MRI Amplifier
A metamaterial structure when placed in an MRI machine can substantially increase the signal-to-noise ratio, resulting in drastically higher image acquisition speed, sensitivity, and image resolution.
Current Industry Challenges
Most non-invasive biomedical applications face a major problem in the interaction between electromagnetic waves and human tissue because the skin prevents incoming signals from entering the body. This barrier makes it difficult to extract useful medical diagnostic information.
How is it Different From Other Technologies?
Our metamaterial films have the ability to cancel reflections from the skin to increase the signal-to-noise ratio transmitted inside the body region without heating and damaging the skin. The films are micro-structured and thin allowing them to be integrated into a variety of medical devices. While such anti-reflection structures have existed in the past, they have been inefficient and bulky, making them unsuitable for medical devices.
The Benefits of this New Technology
A key to improving health care is early diagnosis. By developing technology that can support this we will be able to deliver immense benefits to both patients and the wider health care systems.
Non-invasive Glucose Sensing
Due to the pain, cost and inconvenience of using traditional blood glucose monitoring devices many people living with diabetes do not test as often as recommended, resulting in serious conditions such as hypoglycemia and hyper glycemia. Our scientists are working on developing a non-invasive, painless and cost-effective alternative it will make it easier for people living with diabetes to frequently monitor their glucose levels and, ultimately, to decrease their risk of developing life-threatening conditions.
MRI Amplifier
MRI scanning is one the most commonly used techniques for detailed body imaging. Because of the enormous cost of purchasing and operating these machines, patients typically experience long waiting times or are forced to go to expensive private clinics. By using our proprietary metamaterial with existing MRI machines, operators can acquire the same or better image quality in much less time, resulting in a huge increase in patient throughput. Conversely, our solution can be used for longer scan times to produce the same results as a much more powerful, and costly, machine.
Radio Wave Imaging
Delayed diagnoses of strokes can severely affect patients’ odds of survival, or can result in permanent neurological brain damage. It typically takes at least one hour for a stroke patient to obtain a diagnostic image that can inform doctors of the stroke’s type and location. Because secondary strokes are so common, frequent monitoring is often recommended. META is working towards offering imaging devices that are economical, compact and fast, health care organizations could provide scanners inside emergency vehicles for rapid detection of strokes, in smaller clinics for routine monitoring, and even in homes to allow earlier discharge of stroke patients from hospital.
