UltraMEDIS within the DFG priority programme 1202 is aimed at using UWB radar techniques for the detection of tumours, as well as for navigation technology in MR imaging.

The interdisciplinary research project ultraMEDIS within the DFG priority programme 1202 "Ultra wide-band radio technologies for communication, localisation and sensor technology" is aimed at using ultra-wideband (UWB) radar techniques for the detection of tumours, as well as for navigation technology in magnetic resonance (MR) imaging.

Ultra-wideband electromagnetic pulses (spectral bandwidth up to 10 GHz) generated by an UWB radar and transmitted by an antenna are able to probe the human body with low integral power (~ 1 mW), because electromagnetic waves can propagate through the body and are reflected at interfaces between materials with different dielectric properties. The receiving antenna detects the reflected signals coming from different depths of the body.

The high temporal and spatial resolution of radar sensors, their compatibility to existing narrow-band systems, the low integral power of the probing signals and their ability to penetrate objects are thereby exploited. Especially the latter one is the very property which makes UWB radar so attractive for medical applications.

At PTB, a demonstrator for the evaluation of the principal feasibility of an MR-UWB combination has been realised [1, 2]. With an MR-compatible UWB radar, the characteristic landmarks of the heart muscle during breathing could be followed without disturbing the actual MR measurement. Thus both, a real-time adjustment of the MR frequency according to the current position of the heart or a retrospective position correction of the MR data could be carried out. The Project is carried out in cooperation with the Technical University of Ilmenau and with medical partners from University of Jena, whose special attention lies on tumor detection.