IMS segues to IMBioC

Philadelphia, PA. The International Microwave Symposium came to a formal close Thursday afternoon in a special session that also marked the official beginning of the International Microwave Biomedical Conference (IMBioC), which continues through Friday. As for IMS, Afshin Daryoush, symposium cochair, cited the success of several elements throughout the week, extending from a mobile 5G summit through a physicians’ panel. The event had nearly 3,000 registered participants, contributing to the 9,000-plus total visitors who attended the event in one capacity or another, representing more than 600 exhibitors and participating in 75 technical sessions throughout the week.

Offering the concluding IMS address, Nader Engheta, Ph.D., H. Nedwill Ramsey Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, delivered a talk titled “Extreme Platforms for Extreme Functionality.” His goal is exploring how to use metamaterials to explore wave-matter interaction, governed by both classical and quantum electrodynamics. “The concept of metamaterials enables us to come out with composite structures with parameters different from natural materials,” he said.

Of particular interest to him are material design coupled with machine learning, infomatics, and AI. The final goal? “Let metamaterials do the math!”

He delved into the relationship between electronics and photonics, positing a “unique circuit alphabet” that can treat both electronic and photonic components as lumped circuit elements, forming merged fields of electronics and photonics with a “unique circuit alphabet”—based on Thévenin and Norton equivalents.

Ultimately, he said, materials with inhomogeneous permittivity could act like the analog computers of the 1960s and 1970s, although at much lower power levels and much smaller footprints. He concluded his talk with a quote from George Bernard Shaw: “You see things; and you say “Why?” But I dream things that never were; and I say “Why not?”

Transitioning over to the medical focus of IMBioC, Nicholas Ruggiero, M.D., Cardiology, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, delivered a talk titled “Review and advances in RF renal denervation, complexity after simplicity.” Hypertension affects 29% of the world’s population, he said, representing a spark near a powder keg. It affects the kidneys, heart, and brain.

He presented an approach called renal denervation. Initial trials in the U.S. showed no benefit in comparison to optimal medical therapy. However, he said, “Fortunately, those who believe in the procedure are pressing forward, and multiple new trials which are currently enrolling will ultimately determine the future of renal denervation.”

In his talk, he discussed the mechanism of renal denervation and early trial data.

The week’s biomedical emphasis was continued Thursday evening with a special “Women in Microwaves” event at the Pennsylvania Academy for the Fine Arts. Prof. Caterina Merla delivered a talk on working at the frontier of engineering and biology with a focus on linear and nonlinear optical microspectroscopy to understand electropulsation mechanisms on cells. Her work involves multidisciplinary efforts to assess experimental cell-membrane permittivity and to investigate theoretical electromagnetic field distribution with respect to single-cell microdosimetry.

Merla noted that she received her M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from Sapienza Università di Roma and has worked on microfluidic chambers at Lehigh University. Apart from relating the details of her studies, she commented that research is hard work, but she likes it and never feels discouraged, thanks in part from supportive colleagues and stimulating collaboration between U.S. and European researchers.

Next year’s IMS will take place June 2-7 in Boston.