ALERT Receives Patent
![Carey Rappaport and Jose Martinez-Lorenzo](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_600,h_400/https://coe.northeastern.edu/wp-content/uploads/news/ece/rappaport-martinez.jpg)
ECE Professor Carey Rappaport and MIE/ECE Associate Professor Jose Martinez-Lorenzo awarded a patent for the “Characterization of dielectric slabs attached to the body using focused millimeter waves.”
Abstract Source: USPTO
A system for characterizing a dielectric object situated adjacent to an electrically conductive surface comprises a radiation source configured to radiate electromagnetic energy toward the dielectric object, and a receiver configured to receive scattered electromagnetic energy scattered by the dielectric object and the electrically conductive surface. The system may further comprise a control subsystem, coupled to the radiation source and the receiver, that determines an apparent focal point within the object, determines a phase shift associated with the scattered electromagnetic energy with respect to the electromagnetic energy radiated by the radiation source, and determine a thickness and an index of refraction of the object based, on the apparent focal point and the phase shift. The system may determine the apparent focal point by scanning a calculated focus point of the radiated energy through different depths of the object, and searching for a peak in an amplitude of the scattered energy.