Metamaterials meeting industry

Abstract

Human health problems have long been one of the main challenges that scientists must face. Cancer in particular, as one of the most common causes of death, is a significant burden of disease worldwide. Indeed, according to the WHO, it accounted for nearly 10 million deaths in 2020. It is well known that early cancer detection is of substantial importance to increase the chances of survival. Cancer prevention and early detection are central to saving lives, reducing financial burden, and improving the quality of patients. To address the abovementioned societal challenges, this Special Issue presents, for the first time to the best of our knowledge, studies and constructions of tissue-like phantom metamaterials with a nanometer fabrication resolution to identify healthy and cancerous areas in real tissues. Currently, the majority of metamaterials only use one degree of freedom (e.g., optical, electrical, and mechanical properties), which are under intense development in laboratories worldwide. This Special Issue aims to deal with metamaterials for industrial applications including clinical practice. These unique and novel nano-opto-electromechanical metamaterial systems offer unprecedented opportunities to control the flow of light in nanoscale structures at high speed and low power consumption. By having a deeper insight into the optical properties of the metamaterials, one may come up with solutions for clinical practice along with phantom cancerous tissues for further research and applications.