Adrok Ltd is an award winning technology developer and provider of unique imaging and mapping solutions based on proprietary technology known as the Atomic Dielectric Resonance (ADR) Scanner.

The technology has been developed by Adrok’s founder and science director, Colin Stove, who has been successfully imaging ground targets from space for the UK government, the European space Agency, NASA and commercial organisations for over forty years.

This scanner has the ability to identify and image any substance down to molecular or atomic level. Adrok’s patented technology works by sending a narrow beam of energy into the ground using micro and radio waves and allows the depth penetration of this energy to be much greater than conventional methods.

There are two main markets where Adrok focuses its commercialisation efforts to apply its technology developments; Subsurface earth imaging (Geological) and Medical markets.

In the Geological market, ADR is applied to provide meaningful images of unique material classifications of the structure and the content of the earth’s subsurface (hydrocarbons, precious minerals, water).

The Business Challenge

Gordon Stove, Adrok managing director, said: “The contribution our technology can make is multifaceted. Very little of the Earth’s subsurface has been mapped to date and the potential of ADR technology could significantly improve this situation in terms of delivering dielectric readings of up to 80km below the surface, at a far faster and more economical rate than has previously been possible.”

The Earth’s crust is currently mapped through seismic technology, which measures the elastic property of rocks and is expensive in terms of time and equipment. The company sought academic expertise to develop a two dimensional ADR bore hole image to determine dielectric rock properties at depths that will help them understand the deeper tectonic processes that can cause earthquakes and other natural events.

The Solution
The firm was introduced to Dr Randell Stephenson, Reader in Geophysics at the University of Aberdeen through Interface – The knowledge connection for business, which helps partner some of the country’s most innovative companies with leading academics.

The geophysicists worked with Adrok to see whether the firm’s existing one-dimensional virtual borehole system could be developed to generate two-dimensional subsurface profile images.

After preliminary analyses funded through a Scottish Funding Council Innovation Voucher, Dr Stephenson comments: “We need to conduct further analysis to determine the full resolution potential of ADR technology; however, if a two dimensional subsurface geological image can be achieved at depths of tens of kilometres, we will have a novel way of complementing existing information and potentially a far deeper understanding of the tectonic processes that produce the geology we see at the Earth’s surface.”

The approach represents a major advance in physics with a competitive advantage for additional industries including minerals, water, life sciences, civil engineering, defence, security and industrial quality control.