In relation to Electromagnetic Research Group (EMRG) at the Physics department, University of Malta, work on Electromagnetic applications to biomedicine, I have participated in the ICEAA-IEEE APWC 2019 conference through a MyWave ITC grant. The conference was held during September 9 -13, 2019, in Granada, Spain. Three papers, one of which I was the main author and two co-authored with my colleague,s were accepted and presented: ”WIDEBAND MODELLING OF THE DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES OF MUSCLE AS A FUNCTION OF HYDRATION’’, “PRELIMINARY STUDY ON THE INTER-AND INTRA-SPECIES VARIABILITY FOR THE DIELECTRIC PERMITTIVITY OF ANIMAL KIDNEY’’, and ‘’AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE USE OF CALNN CAPPED GOLD NANOPARTICLES FOR IMPROVING MICROWAVE HEATING’’.
My paper presentation entitled ‘’Wideband Modelling of the dielectric Properties of Muscles as a Function of Hydration ‘’ was convened on Wednesday 11th of September 2019 (15:40-16:00) during the session title Electromagnetic applications to bio-medicine. The chair of this session was Prof G. Lazzi and co-chaired by Prof K. Saito. The motivation of our EMRG group contribution to this conference was to shed light on our group’s extensive research being conducted in the Electromagnetic Lab at physics department worldwide and collaborate with other research groups and projects. Our work centres around dielectric spectroscopy of biological tissues, where the knowledge of these properties is essential for a wide variety of medical applications to suitably model the medical procedure. Essentially, we focus on Electromagnetic waves in the microwave frequency range because they offer a possibility to examine and treat cancerous biological tissues by means of microwave hyperthermia and microwave ablation which are the core of our ongoing quest.
The presentation started with a brief introduction and background on the presented topic, and the main methodology factors exploited in the study and was illustrated. Along the results given the salient conclusions of the study, the outcome of our promising studies were also discussed.The main motivation of this work is to verify the proposed mimicking solution made out of specific materials to match the respective physical characteristics of a biological tissue they have to mimic as a function of dehydration levels. Finally, the main outcomes of the preliminary study were presented in the results section. At the end of my talk I received different interesting questions. This study provides the groundwork for future studies which I will carry on. I would like to express my gratitude to the COST Action CA17115 for making this experience possible. I look forward to participating in more events like these not only to share and gain scientific knowledge while also acquiring new networking contacts.
Dr. Iman Farhat
