The VASCOVID Consortium is organizing a workshop about optical monitoring tools and intensive care. A two-day event, it will focus on how smart photonic devices can provide useful information about the microvascular health of the patients admitted to the intensive care units, by monitoring their hemodynamics and oxygen metabolism.

When?

Next 10th and 11th of November, 2022.

Where?

At the Auditorium of the Politecnico di Milano University in Milan, Italy.

How to join

The event is open to anyone interested. The on-site registration will open at 8:30 on Thursday 10th.

You can also join the session online: https://politecnicomilano.webex.com/politecnicomilano-it/j.php?MTID=md0c56e97f8973faaea96498268dd78df

Meeting Number: 2734 228 4585

Password: Vascovid2022

Speakers

Stefan Andersson -Engels

Head of Biophotonics at Tyndall National Institute and Deputy Head of the Irish Photonics Integration Centre (IPIC).

He is actively engaged in translational research, by working closely with clinicians and patients to explore and validate possible clinical applications of biophotonics tools. He is considered a pioneer in biophotonics for his continuous development of advanced technologies like Photodynamic therapy, time-domain diffuse optical spectroscopy, and Upconverting nanoparticles for multi-modal and diffuse optical imaging. He won the Erna Eblings Prize for the use of laser spectroscopy for the diagnosis of pathological tissue conditions and his development of methods for the treatment of skin tumours with photodynamic therapy

David Busch

Dr. Busch is an assistant professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Management at UT Southwestern.

His work translates tools and techniques from the physical sciences to solve pressing clinical problems, primarily in monitoring the brain and spinal cord, as well as the efficacy of cancer therapy. Much of his research utilizes diffuse optical spectroscopies, minimally and non-invasive quantitative tools which enable continuous, long-term measurements. He has frequently utilized these optical tools in combination with other imaging/monitoring modalities.

Davide Contini

Prof. Contini is the Head of the fNIRS lab and an Associate Professor of Physics at Politecnico di Milano since 2014. 

His research activity focuses on time-resolved spectroscopy of highly diffusive media for applications in biology and medicine. He designed, developed, and characterized different systems for the non-invasive measurement of the functional activity in the cerebral and muscular tissues. He participated in several EU-funded projects and has co-authored more than 200 publications in international peer-reviewed journals and congress proceedings with an h-index of 31. He is one of the PioNIRS co-founders.

Lorenzo Cortese

Dr. Cortese is a postdoctoral researcher at the Medical Optics group at ICFO since 2016.

He obtained his PhD at the European Laboratory for Non-Linear Spectroscopy LENS. His work focuses on multi-modal imaging technologies, diffuse correlation spectroscopy, and near-infrared spectroscopy, designing and performing experiments in the laboratory and clinics. He has worked on several international research projects involving research and clinical institutions, and high-technology biomedical companies.

Turgut Durduran

Prof. Durduran is an ICREA professor /group leader at ICFO, where he leads the Medical Optics group.

He collaborates extensively with colleagues from the UK, USA, Italy, Denmark, Germany, Austria and France. He has coordinated multi-partner projects from the European Council, the Spanish government and the Catalan regional government. Over the years, he has participated in many grant review boards, has authored over a hundred peer-reviewed papers and delivered numerous invited talks at international conferences and colloquia. In March 2020 he initiated an ad hoc consortium spanning four countries and a dozen hospitals referred to as HEMOCOVID-19, in collaboration with Dr Jaume Mesquida, have identified key potential contributions of near-infrared spectroscopies to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Roberto DeBlasi

Associate Prof. in Anesthesiology and Intensive Care at the University of Roma Sapienza and at the S. Andrea University Hospital, Rome Chief of the general Intensive Care Unit.

Prof. DeBlasi has theoretical and clinical application knowledge in the non-invasive assessment of tissue oxygenation and venous compartment with optical technologies, in the critical care and anaesthesia area. He is the referent and clinical research coordinator for the development of statistical models of the organs’ failure prediction, and for a research project on the development of near-infrared spectroscopy technologies to quantify the water content in tissues, in collaboration with the company NIROX.

Monica Fumagalli

Dr. Monica Fumagalli is Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Università Statale di Milano.

Her main interest is brain lesions acquired during the perinatal age. Within this field, her research focus has shifted from the accuracy of diagnosis to a better understanding of pathogenesis and prediction of outcome. She performed clinical research studies on cerebral haemodynamics using near-infrared spectroscopy in preterm infants and she participated in multinational clinical trials on the use of Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Monitoring. She collaborated on the European-funded project BabyLux, aimed at providing a precise, accurate, and robust device to continuously monitor cerebral oxygen metabolism and blood flow in critically ill newborn infants. Another research interest is the human behavioural epigenetics applied to neonatal research. She collaborated on a long-term follow-up study of children in utero exposure to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, which greatly impacts the treatment of pregnant mothers with cancer.

Jaume Mesquida

Dr Mesquida is a critical care consultant physician and clinical researcher.

He has worked in the ICU of Parc Taulí as an attending physician for more than 15 years now, and during this period of time, he has combined his clinical research activity. His field of expertise is tissue oxygenation, microcirculation and hemodynamic monitoring in critically ill patients, with special relevance to somatic NIRS monitoring in the ICU. 

Simone Porcelli

Dr.Porcelli is an Assistant Professor at the University of Pavia and a researcher at the Institute of Biomedical Technologies.

His work focuses on exercise and environmental physiology and skeletal muscle bioenergetics. He has participated in several research projects and clinical trials and is currently a medical consultant at the Winter Italian Federation.

Keith St Lawrence

Dr. St Lawrence is an assistant professor at the Lawson Health Research Institute of Western University in Canada.

Dr. St Lawrence is a scientist at the Lawson Health Research Institute and a professor in the Dept. of Medical Biophysics, Western University, Canada. His research, which covers multiple imaging modalities including optical techniques and hybrid PET/MRI, is focused on measuring blood flow and oxygen utilization in the brain. In this presentation, he will discuss his team’s efforts in developing portable optical devices for assessing cerebral physiology in intensive care patients.

Martin Wolf

Prof. Wolf leads the Biomedical Optics Research Laboratory of the University of Zurich and the Neonatology Division at the University Hospital Zurich.

His team specializes in developing techniques to measure and quantitatively image oxygenation of the brain, muscle, tumor and other tissues. His aim is to translate these techniques to clinical application for the benefit of adult patients and preterm infants.

M. Atif Yaqub

Dr. Yaqub is a postdoctoral researcher at the Medical Optics Group at ICFO.

He obtained his PhD in mechanical engineering from the Pusan National University (South Korea). His research interests include embedded and wearable system design, fNIRS-based brain imaging, neuromodulation, robotics, and brain-computer interfaces. He has over eight years of academic, research, and industrial experience both at universities and in private companies.

Marta Zanoletti

Dr. Zanoletti is a postdoctoral researcher at the Medical Optics group at ICFO.

She received her PhD in Physics at the Politecnico di Milano in 2019. Her work revolves around the design, development and performance characterization of hybrid diffuse optical devices with a special focus on translating their potential into clinical practice.

Agenda

  • 9.30 – 10.00 am. Welcome speech by Dr. Davide Contini – Politecnico di Milano & Turgut Durduran – ICFO

  • 10.00 – 10.45 am. “The VASCOVID platform”, by Dr. Marta Zanoletti – ICFO

10.45 – 11.45 am.  Coffee break


  • 11.15 – 12.15 pm. Hands-on session by Dr. M. Atif Yaqub-ICFO.

  • 12.15 – 13.00 pm. “Measuring tissue oxygenation by near-infrared light: Achievements, challenges and solutions”, by Dr. Martin Wolf – University of Zurich

13.00 – 14.00 pm Lunch


  • 14.00 – 14.45 pm. “Hemodynamic monitoring with non- and minimally- invasive diffuse optics in the central nervous system: towards guiding patient-specific neuroprotective critical care”, by Dr. David Busch – US Southwestern Medical Center.

  • 14.45 – 15.30 pm. “Monitoring lung functions in infants using gas in scattering media absorption spectroscopy (GASMAS)”, by Dr. Stefan Andersson-Engels – Tyndall National Institute

15.30 – 16.00 pm. Coffee break


  • 16.00 – 16.45 pm. “Hybrid Optical Technologies for Assessing Cerebral Hemodynamics and Metabolism”, by Dr. Keith St Lawrence – Lawson Image Research

  • 16.45 – 17.00 pm. Closing remarks by Dr. Turgut Durduran – ICFO
  • 9.00 – 9.45 am. Perspectives for clinical use, by Dr Jaume Mesquida – Consorci Sanitari Parc Taulí Hospital

  • 9.45 – 10.30 am. “Bed-side evaluation of endothelial and microvascular impairments in severe COVID-19 patients through non-invasive near-infrared spectroscopy: the HEMOCOVID-19 trial, by Dr. Lorenzo Cortese – ICFO

10.30 – 11.00 am. Coffee break


  • 11.00 – 11.45 am. NIRS in the NICU”, by Dr. Monica Fumagalli – Università statale di Milano

  • 11.45 – 12.30 pm. “The venous side of circulation”, by Dr. Roberto DeBlasi – University of Rome Sapienza

12.30 – 13.30 pm. Lunch


  • 13.30 – 14.15 pm. “Estimation of oxidative capacity and oxygen diffusion at skeletal muscle level by NIRS”, by Dr. Simone Porcelli – Università Statale di Pavia

14.15 – 14.45 pm. Coffee break


  • 14.45 – 15.45 pm. Hands-on session by Dr. M. Atif Yaqub-ICFO

  • 15. 45 – 16.15 pm. Closing remarks by Dr. Turgut Durduran

Venue