Umbria Bioengineering Technologies (UBT) is an Italian company established in 2015 as a spin-off of the Department of Physics and Geology (FISGEO) at the University of Perugia. UBT offers cutting-edge biomedical solutions that use microwaves instead of ionizing radiation (X-Rays), specialising in research and development of microwave imaging techniques for diagnostic purposes. The company also provides services in measurement and risk assessment of exposure to electromagnetic fields, as well as electromagnetic compatibility measurements. UBT is responsible for the development and patenting of MammoWave, the device under investigation in MammoScreen, and its application in the detection of breast lesions.
UBT develops and commercialises a portfolio of innovative medical devices, complementing their unique expertise in microwave imaging and mechatronics with the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for data analysis, in a close partnership with experts from the London Southbank University (LSBU). The LSBU team is also a partner in the MammoScreen Consortium.
Since 2017, the synergy between UBT and LSBU has resulted in multiple co-sponsored PhDs and Post-graduate studentships, contributing to a rapid advancement of knowledge in the field of antennas and radiation applied to healthcare. They also collaborate in bringing other devices, such as BrainWave, used for brain stroke detection and classification, and LungWave, for the detection and monitoring of lung lesions, to the forefront of the current trend in development of X-Ray free solutions for the detection of various diseases.
In the framework of the MammoScreen project, UBT oversees the manufacturing and distribution of MammoWave, also contributing to the definition of the clinical protocol for testing the device in various clinical centres in Europe. MammoScreen clinical investigation involves 5 different countries; it has already started in Italy, Portugal, Spain and Poland and is going to start in Switzerland in the next months.
The team hopes that the inherent safety of the MammoWave device (which uses microwave signals rather than ionizing radiation), the absence of any breast compression and the easy examination routine, supported by AI, will be an incentive for adoption of the device into population screening programs.
