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MetaMaterials antenna for ultra-high field MRI

Description du projet

Technologie IRM personnalisable

L’IRM à haut champ fonctionne à des intensités de champ magnétique élevées offrant une meilleure résolution d’image, un meilleur rapport signal/bruit et une acquisition d’image plus rapide. Toutefois, des difficultés techniques en limitent l’utilisation à grande échelle. Le projet M-CUBE, financé par l’UE, entend surmonter les limites liées à la résolution spatiale et temporelle. Les chercheurs développeront des métamatériaux innovants qui n’existent pas dans la nature afin d’améliorer la technologie des antennes IRM à haut champ. Les médecins disposeront ainsi d’une solution simple et abordable pour adapter les ondes électromagnétiques aux besoins des patients. Le résultat escompté est une approche axée sur le patient permettant une détection plus précoce des maladies et une médecine personnalisée plus précise.

Objectif

M-Cube aims at changing the paradigm of High-Field MRI and Ultra High-Field antennas to offer a much better insight on the human body and enable earlier detection of diseases. Our main objective is to go beyond the limits of MRI clinical imaging and radically improve spatial and temporal resolutions. The clinical use of High-field MRI scanners is drastically limited due to the lack of homogeneity and to the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) of the Radio Frequency (RF) fields associated with the magnetic resonance.
The major way to tackle and solve these problems consists in increasing the number of active RF antennas, leading to complex and expensive solutions. M-Cube solution relies on innovative systems based upon passive metamaterial structures to avoid multiple active elements. These systems are expected to make High-Field MRI fully diagnostically relevant for physicians.
To achieve these expectations, M-Cube consortium will develop a disruptive metamaterial antenna technology. This we will able us to tackle both the lack of homogeneity and SAR barriers. Metamaterials are composite structured manmade materials designed to produce effective properties unavailable in nature (e.g. negative optical index). They allow us to tailor electromagnetic waves at will. Thus, the scientifically ambitious idea is to develop antennas based on this unique ability for whole body coil. This technological breakthrough will be validated by preclinical and clinical tests with healthy volunteers. M-Cube gathers an interdisciplinary consortium composed of academic leaders in the field, eight universities, and two promising SMEs. Physicists, medical doctors and industrial actors will work closely all along the implementation of the project to guarantee the success this novel approach, a “patient-centered” solution which will pave the way for a more accurate diagnosis in the context of personalized medicine and will enable to detect a disease much earlier that is currently possible.

Appel à propositions

H2020-FETOPEN-2016-2017

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Sous appel

H2020-FETOPEN-1-2016-2017

Coordinateur

UNIVERSITE D'AIX MARSEILLE
Contribution nette de l'UE
€ 1 230 023,75
Adresse
BOULEVARD CHARLES LIVON 58 LE PHARO
13284 Marseille
France

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Région
Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Bouches-du-Rhône
Type d’activité
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Liens
Coût total
€ 1 230 023,75

Participants (10)