Photo: EMRG group members at the main entrance of the ExpoMeloneras conference centre. (Left to right): Jeantide Said Camilleri, Lourdes Farrugia, Jonathan Farrugia, Federico Cilia and Julian Bonello.
The third URSI Atlantic Radio Science Meeting took place at Gran Canaria, Spain between 29 May - 3 June 2022. URSI stands for ‘Union Radio-Scientifique Internationale’ and it is responsible for encouraging Radio-Science and its applications on a worldwide scale. It organises multiple conferences and meetings all over the globe in order to enhance communication within the radio-science community and promote networking and the formation of fruitful collaborations. For the third edition of the URSI Atlantic Radio Science Meeting, five researchers attended from the department of Physics, all members forming part of the Maltese Electromagnetics Research Group (EMRG).
The members forming part of the Maltese (EMRG) are Dr Lourdes Farrugia, Dr Julian Bonello, Jonathan Farrugia, Federico Cilia, Jeantide Said Camilleri and it is chaired by Dr Lourdes Farrugia and Dr Julian Bonello.
Each presenter submitted a summary paper and presented his work via a 15 min presentation, followed by a Q&A. The following are some details about the presentations:
Jeantide Said Camilleri - Review of Thermal and Physiological Properties of Human Breast Tissue
Electromagnetic thermal therapies being investigated for cancer treatments aim to heat up the tumour using non-ionising radiation. Such research relies on the use of computational simulations to model the Electromagnetic fields and temperature increase within the tumour and surrounding healthy tissue. Properties, such as density, thermal conductivity and blood perfusion rate for fatty breast tissues and breast tumours are reviewed through this paper. This provides
an important contribution to the standardisation of computational simulations in the hyperthermia community.
an important contribution to the standardisation of computational simulations in the hyperthermia community.
Jonathan Farrugia - Predictions of Liver Dielectric Properties using Bruggemann Mixture Equation for Microwave Medical Applications
Short description: Mimicking solutions, also referred to as phantoms, are useful in conducting preliminary testing for new medical technologies. Their main function is to replicate some properties of the actual tissue to be modelled so that specific aspects of a treatment procedure could be tested inside these solutions. This study involves a mathematical calculation in an attempt to replicate the electrical properties of liver tissue.
Federico Cilia - Design and Characterisation of an Uncooled Monopole Antenna for Microwave Ablation
Short description: Microwave ablation refers to the heating up of cancer cells via microwave radiation. As the tumour cells heat up, they get dessicated and eventually die. This provides an alternative to the more traditional surgical removal of the tumour. Such a treatment is less invasive than surgical therapy, and also could potentially better preserve the surrounding healthy tissue. This paper presents an antenna which is capable of achieving microwave ablation inside liver tissue.
All these projects were conducted within the Electromagnetics Research Group, headed by Prof. Charles Sammut. This group forms part of the Department of Physics at the University of Malta. External collaborators (both within and outside UM) were involved in two of these papers.
New valuable connections were made with other research groups working on similar projects, which enhances future prospects for local research and promotes further collaboration. Follow the Department's Facebook page for more information.