Photonic devices for microvascular health
The event focused on how smart photonic devices can provide useful information about the microvascular health of the patients admitted into the intensive care units, by monitoring their hemodynamics and oxygen metabolism.
Davide Contini, Prof at the Politecnico di Milano, opened the session by introducing, in general lines, the aims and goals of the VASCOVID project and Marta Zanoletti, a postdoctoral researcher at ICFO, presented the device and gave more details about its technology.
Measuring tissue oxygenation, monitoring the central nervous system and cerebral hemodynamics, and assessing lung function, were among some of the topics discussed by the speakers. The invited talks were given by Dr. Martin Wolf from the University of Zurich, David Busch from the UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dr. Stefan Andersson-Engels from the Tyndall National Institute and Dr. Keith St Lawrence from the Lawson Image Research.
The second day was centred on the medical applications of the photonic monitoring tools, featuring talks from Jaume Mesquida – a clinician at the Parc Taulí Hospital – who presented the perspectives for the clinical use of the VASCOVID device, and Lorenzo Cortese – a postdoctoral researcher at ICFO, who went over the results of the HEMOCOVID-19 clinical trial.
The invited talks of Dr. Monica Fumagalli from the Università Statale di Milano, Dr. Roberto DeBlasi from the University of Rome Sapienza and Dr. Simone Porcelli from the Università Statale di Pavia covered several aspects of the clinical practice, such as the use of NIRS technologies in the neonatal intensive care units and the skeletal muscle function, and the venous part of microcirculation.
Both days included a hands-on session, conducted by a postdoctoral researcher at ICFO Atif Yaqub, who showed how the device worked by measuring the parameter of a volunteer. Additionally, participants and speakers had the opportunity to have a closer look at the instrument, be measured and inquire about technical and operational aspects. The closing session of the workshop was given by ICREA Prof at ICFO Turgut Durduran and Prof. Contini, who thanked all the attendants for their participation.
