Research Article

Electromagnetic metamaterials for biomedical applications: short review and trends

¹ Meta Materials Europe S.A., Ap, Pavlou 10a, Marousi, T.K. 15123, Athens, Greece
² Department of Engineering, King’s College London, London, Strand WC2R 2LS, UK

^* e-mail: dtzarouc@gmail.com
^a Equally contributing authors.
^b Currently at Broadband Systems & Wireless Technologies Department, Intracom Telecom S.A.

Received: 12 November 2023
Accepted: 22 January 2024
Published online: 11 April 2024

Abstract

This mini-review examines the most prominent features and usages of metamaterials, such as metamaterial-based and metamaterial-inspired RF components used for biomedical applications. Emphasis is given to applications on sensing and imaging systems, wearable and implantable antennas for telemetry, and metamaterials used as flexible absorbers for protection against extreme electromagnetic (EM) radiation. A short discussion and trends on the metamaterial composition, implementation, and phantom preparation are presented. This review seeks to compile the state-of-the-art biomedical systems that utilize metamaterial concepts for enhancing their performance in some form or another. The goal is to highlight the diverse applications of metamaterials and demonstrate how different metamaterial techniques impact EM biomedical applications from RF to THz frequency range. Insights and open problems are discussed, illuminating the prototyping process.