NITU MISIS: Differential superconducting terahertz detectors

Main article: Human body

2025: Presentation of a detector that will reveal the exact focus of inflammation in the body by skin temperature

NITU MISIS scientists on April 28, 2025 presented detectors that can record the slightest changes in skin temperature - one of the earliest symptoms of the onset of inflammatory processes. New devices are more sensitive than traditional ones: they easily distinguish between the necessary terahertz signals among noise. Detectors could be the basis for new thermal skin mapping technology.

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Фото: NITU MISIS

Each person emits and reflects electromagnetic waves, including terahertz radiation, the frequencies of which are located between radio waves and visible light. In the early stages of the disease, the temperature rises under the skin at the site of inflammation. Hypersensitive detectors can be used to capture these structural and temperature changes.

Scientists at NITU MISIS received a patent for a differential superconducting terahertz detector, which works as a night vision device. However, compared to traditional elements that distinguish only surface heating, the device has a plus - it can register small foci of increased body temperature even through clothes. The development does not produce harmful radiation, as in X-rays, and can find application in the treatment of diseases, where early detection of changes significantly affects therapy.

The detector can detect a signal from background noise and visualize foci of inflammation. The device can be compared to an ear: it can hear a rustle, but in a noisy crowd it will not be able to make out what a person says. Background plays a greater role in this matter than sensitivity. Together with other diagnostic methods - MRI, radiography - the new technology will provide doctors with additional data. We are open to cooperation with medical centers and are confident that this can bring fruitful scientific results, - said the author of the development, Doctor of Medical Sciences Sergei Shitov, head of the laboratory of cryo-electronic systems at NUST MISIS.

The device can be used for thermal mapping - the prevention and diagnosis of diseases, when the symptoms are not yet obvious and it is difficult to accurately determine the focus of inflammation by other methods. Several detectors can be inserted into the matrix of a medical device to conduct simultaneous observations at different frequencies.