Electromagnetic Technologies For Medical Diagnostics

Electromagnetic (EM) radio-wave technologies for medical imaging represent an emerging alternative diagnostic modality with some unique features, which is attracting the attention of many researchers worldwide. Diagnostic devices based on EM technology have no side-effects, as they exploit non-ionizing radiation, and their intrinsic low cost makes them sustainable for healthcare systems. This Special Issue provides a comprehensive account of this very active research area by gathering contributions that cover a variety of topics ranging from fundamental research questions to experimental validation and clinical translation.

Electromagnetism refers to the force of electric and magnetic fields which is frequently used in various technologies. Electromagnetic technologies are also used in medical imaging and diagnostics. The advancements in electromagnetic engineering such as computational methods, imaging theory and algorithms, measurement techniques, etc. have led to the development of this technology. Such advancements have led to development of low-cost, portable, and accurate microwave sensing/imaging systems which can help in overcoming various challenges existing in medical diagnostics. Currently, the electromagnetism research is focused on the use of microwave technologies in medical imaging and diagnostics. Microwave medical imaging makes use of the prominent dielectric contrast between healthy and disease-affected tissues to detect a pathological condition. The objective of microwave sensing technology is to monitor physiological parameters such as heart-rate, or disease-related biomarkers in the blood. A new medical application named microwave tomography is emerging as an effective means to monitor thermal ablation. In this book, various advancements in electromagnetic technology having applications in medical diagnostics have been looked at in detail. Medical researchers, scientists and students actively engaged in this field will find it full of crucial and unexplored concepts.

This timely book presents innovative technologies for use in the diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment of brain disease. These technologies offer exciting possibilities in the medical field owing to their low-cost, portability and safety. The authors address cerebrovascular diseases such as stroke, ischemia, haemorrhage, and vasospasm, these diseases having an ever-increasing societal relevance due to the global ageing population. The authors describe the potential of novel techniques such as microwave imaging and present innovative modalities for treatment of brain tumours using electromagnetic fields and nano-composites, as well as for monitoring brain temperature during surgery. Finally, Emerging Electromagnetic Technologies for Brain Diseases Diagnostics, Monitoring and Therapy addresses the perspectives which arise from multi-modal multi-spectral EM modalities, which make a synergic use of the different portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. This text will be of interest to readers from various different areas, given the fundamental interdisciplinarity of the subject matter. This includes researchers or practitioners in the field of electrical engineering, applied physicists, and applied mathematicians working on imaging applications for biomedical and electromagnetic technologies. Neurologists and radiologists may also find this book of interest, as may graduate students in these areas.

Diagnosing and then treating, curing and restoring a state of well-being is possible thanks to electromagnetic waves. Contrary to what one might think, they are topics of such wide application that already at the time when the author published the book "The therapeutic properties of electromagnetic waves", he already knew that many topics of great scientific interest had been excluded. The book, which includes the one just mentioned, comprise in addition to the main and well-known technologies used for care and well-being, also those recently studied and applied. There are many pages dedicated to biological effects on human cells and tissues, the energy properties of water, harmful effects, to end with one of the most difficult topics to deal with: cancer. What the world of research has discovered and experienced over decades is hardly known to anyone, even to the experts in the medical field. In the last chapter, the author has collected the most interesting studies carried out worldwide, mainly on technologies that in many cases have evolved into recognized and approved applications for the treatment and ablation of cancer.Embracing and explaining, in the simplest possible way, such a wide range of applications with electromagnetic waves is not easy, considering that the topics covered include notions of physics as well as of medicine and biology. The text is useful to inform both professionals and those interested in knowing more about concepts , about methodologies and discoveries whose existence is often ignored.The medical world is becoming aware of the effectiveness of the technologies that apply electromagnetic waves both in the diagnostic and curative fields and, as a consequence, the old methodologies are gradually set aside. These innovative technologies are the future of medicine and having ever more precise knowledge of how cells and tissues generate, transmit, receive and react to electromagnetic waves can lead to the formulation of solutions more and more effective. Also in ebook version.

This book offers the first comprehensive coverage of microwave medical imaging, with a special focus on the development of novel devices and methods for different applications in both the diagnosis and treatment of various diseases. Upon introducing the fundamentals of electromagnetic imaging, it guides the readers to their use in practice by providing extensive information on the corresponding measurement and testing techniques. In turn, it discusses current challenges in data processing and analysis, presenting effective, novel solutions, developed by different research groups. It also describes state-of-the-art medical devices, which were designed for specific applications, such as brain stroke monitoring, lymph node diagnosis, image-guided hyperthermia, and chemotherapy response monitoring. The chapters, which report on the results of the EU-funded project EMERALD (ElectroMagnetic imaging for a novel genERation of medicAL Devices) are written by leading European engineering groups in electromagnetic medical imaging, whose coordinated action is expected to accelerate the translation of this technology “from research bench to patient bedside”. All in all, this book offers an authoritative guide to microwave imaging, with a special focus on medical imaging, for electrical and biomedical engineers, and applied physicists and mathematicians. It is also intended to inform medical doctors and imaging technicians on the state-of-the-art in non-invasive imaging technologies, at the purpose of inspiring and fostering the translation of research into clinical prototypes, by promoting a stronger collaboration between academic institutions, industrial partners, hospitals, and university medical centers.

The book provides a comprehensive compilation of fundamentals, technical solutions and applications for medical imaging systems. It is intended as a handbook for students in biomedical engineering, for medical physicists, and for engineers working on medical technologies, as well as for lecturers at universities and engineering schools. For qualified personnel at hospitals, and physicians working with these instruments it serves as a basic source of information. This also applies for service engineers and marketing specialists. The book starts with the representation of the physical basics of image processing, implying some knowledge of Fourier transforms. After that, experienced authors describe technical solutions and applications for imaging systems in medical diagnostics. The applications comprise the fields of X-ray diagnostics, computed tomography, nuclear medical diagnostics, magnetic resonance imaging, sonography, molecular imaging and hybrid systems. Considering the increasing importance of software based solutions, emphasis is also laid on the imaging software platform and hospital information systems.

Microwave imaging techniques allow for the development of systems that are able to inspect, identify, and characterize in a noninvasive fashion under different scenarios, ranging from biomedical to subsurface diagnostics as well as from surveillance and security applications to nondestructive evaluation. Such great opportunities, though, are actually severely limited by difficulties arising from the solution of the underlying inverse scattering problem. As a result, ongoing research efforts in this area are devoted to developing inversion strategies and experimental apparatus so that they are as reliable and accurate as possible with respect to reconstruction capabilities and resolution performance, respectively. The intent of this Special Issue is to present the experiences of leading scientists in the electromagnetic inverse scattering community, as well as to serve as an assessment tool for people who are new to the area of microwave imaging and electromagnetic inverse scattering problems.

For many centuries, mankind has tried to learn about his health. Initially, during the pre-technological period, he could only rely on his senses. Then there were simple tools to help the senses. The breakthrough turned out to be the discovery of X-rays, which gave insight into the human body. Contemporary medical diagnostics are increasingly supported by information technology, which for example offers a very thorough analysis of the tissue image or the pathology differentiation. It also offers possibilities for very early preventive diagnosis. Under the influence of information technology, 'traditional' diagnostic techniques and new ones are changing. More and more often the same methods can be used for both medical and technical diagnostics. In addition, methodologies are developed that are inspired by the functioning of living organisms. Information Technology in Medical Diagnostics II is the second volume in a series showing the latest advances in information technologies directly or indirectly applied to medical diagnostics. Unlike the previous book, this volume does not contain closed chapters, but rather extended versions of presentations made during two conferences: XLVIII International Scientific and Practical Conference ‘Application of Lasers in Medicine and Biology’ (Kharkov, Ukraine) and the International Scientific Internet conference ‘Computer graphics and image processing’ (Vinnitsa, Ukriane), both held in May 2018. Information Technology in Medical Diagnostics II links technological issues to medical and biological issues, and will be valuable to academics and professionals interested in medical diagnostics and IT.