This bizarre looking helmet can create better brain scans
A newly designed wearable magnetic metamaterial could help make MRI scans crisper, faster, and cheaper

Date:
February 11, 2022
Source:
Boston University
Summary:
Researchers have developed a dome-shaped device, which fits over
a person's head and can be worn during a brain scan, that boosts
MRI performance, creating crisper images that can be captured at
twice the normal speed. Eventually, the magnetic metamaterial has
the potential to be used in conjunction with cheaper low-field MRI
machines to make the technology more widely available, particularly
in the developing world.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
It may look like a bizarre bike helmet, or a piece of equipment found in
Doc Brown's lab in Back to the Future, yet this gadget made of plastic
and copper wire is a technological breakthrough with the potential to revolutionize medical imaging. Despite its playful look, the device
is actually a metamaterial, packing in a ton of physics, engineering,
and mathematical know- how.


==========================================================================
It was developed by Xin Zhang, a College of Engineering professor of
mechanical engineering, and her team of scientists at BU's Photonics
Center. They're experts in metamaterials, a type of engineered structure created from small unit cells that might be unspectacular alone, but
when grouped together in a precise way, get new superpowers not found
in nature. Metamaterials, for instance, can bend, absorb, or manipulate
waves -- such as electromagnetic waves, sound waves, or radio waves. Each
unit cell, also called a resonator, is typically arranged in a repeating pattern in rows and columns; they can be designed in different sizes and shapes, and placed at different orientations, depending on which waves
they're designed to influence.

Metamaterials can have many novel functions. Zhang, who is also
a professor of electrical and computer engineering, biomedical
engineering, and materials science and engineering, has designed an
acoustic metamaterial that blocks sound without stopping airflow (imagine quieter jet engines and air conditioners) and a magnetic metamaterial
that can improve the quality of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines
used for medical diagnosis.

Now, Zhang and her team have taken their work a step further with
the wearable metamaterial. The dome-shaped device, which fits over a
person's head and can be worn during a brain scan, boosts MRI performance, creating crisper images that can be captured at twice the normal speed.

The helmet is fashioned from a series of magnetic metamaterial resonators, which are made from 3D-printed plastic tubes wrapped in copper wiring,
grouped on an array, and precisely arranged to channel the magnetic field
of the MRI machine. Placing the magnetic metamaterial -- in helmet form
or as the originally designed flat array -- near the part of the body
to be scanned, says Zhang, could make MRIs less costly and more time
efficient for doctors, radiologists, and patients -- all while improving
image quality.

Eventually, the magnetic metamaterial has the potential to be used in conjunction with cheaper low-field MRI machines to make the technology
more widely available, particularly in the developing world.

special promotion Explore the latest scientific research on sleep and
dreams in this free online course from New Scientist -- Sign_up_now_>>> ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Boston_University. Original written
by Jessica Colarossi.

Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Related Multimedia:
* The_helmet ========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Ke Wu, Xiaoguang Zhao, Thomas G. Bifano, Stephan W. Anderson,
Xin Zhang.

Auxetics‐Inspired Tunable Metamaterials for Magnetic Resonance
Imaging. Advanced Materials, 2021; 34 (6): 2109032 DOI: 10.1002/
adma.202109032 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220211102727.htm

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