Bio-photonics – Photonics Unipv

Bio-photonics ans Optofluidics

Research description
Latest publications
Key person(s)
Partners

Over the past twenty years, microfluidics raised a significant interest in the scientific community thanks to the possibility of handling and manipulating reduced sample volumes (nL-microL). The great advances occurred in the fields of micromachining and microfabrication technologies allow the integrationof multiple functionalities within a single microfluidic chip, thanks to the inclusion of different sensors and actuation mechanisms.

In our laboratory, we design and realise microfluidic systems integrating optical and acoustic actuators for biological and rheological applications. In particular, we study the mechanical properties of biological samples and complex materials exploiting optical and acoustic waves. Research themes include:

study of mechanical properties of single cells using integrated optical strechters
study of rheological properties of complex materials cell sorting in acoustofluidics-based microchips
biomedical advanced devices

C. Liberale, P. Minzioni*, F. Bragheri, F. De Angelis, E. Di Fabrizio, I. Cristiani “Miniaturized all-fiber probe for three dimensional optical trapping, manipulation and analysis” Nature Photonics, Vol. 1, No.12, pp. 723-727, December 2007, DOI: 10.1038/nphoton.2007.230 Published by Nature Publishing Group, in London, UK on 25/11/2007
T. Yang, F. Bragheri, G. Nava, I. Chiodi, C. Mondello, R. Osellame, K. Berg-Sørensen, I. Cristiani, P. Minzioni* “A comprehensive strategy for the analysis of acoustic compressibility and optical deformability on single cells” Scientific Reports Vol. 6, 23946, April 2016 DOI: 10.1038/srep23946 Published by Nature Research, in London, UK on 04/04/2016
V. Vitali, T. Yang, P. Minzioni*“Separation efficiency maximization in acoustofluidic systems: study of the sample launch-position”RSC Advances, Vol. 8, pp. 38955–38964, November 2018 DOI: 10.1039/C8RA08860H Published by Royal Society of Chemistry, in London, UK on 20/11/2018

Our scientific partners for this research theme include:

Antonio Mariano

Antonio Mariano graduated in Electronic Engineering (Curriculum Photonics) at the University of Pavia in 2013 with a dissertation on the Characterisation of AlGaAs Waveguides for Optical Signal Processing.

Soon after the graduation he continued his studies on Integrated Optical Devices and on Biomedical Optoelectronic Devices in the Integrated Photonics Lab of the University Of Pavia where he obtained his PhD in 2017. His main research activity, funded by the European Project “NISTAS”, was focused on the production of a device able to evaluate the status of the cardiovascular system and prevent diseases by exploiting optical devices and techniques. He also spent 3 months as Visiting Researcher in the Department of Information Technology (INTEC) at Ghent University – Photonic Research Group to study methods of integration of the same device.

After some year working in the area of the Optical Fiber Telecommunication, he’s now employed at Facebook Ireland (Oculus), working on the development of Integrated Optical Devices.

Riccardo Marchetti

Riccardo Marchetti graduated with honours in Electronic Engineering (Curriculum Photonics) at the University of Pavia in 2014 with a dissertation regarding the study and characterization of hybridly integrated III-V on Si Semiconductor Optical Amplifiers (SOAs).
He then joined the Integrated Photonics Lab of University of Pavia, where he obtained the PhD in Optoelectronics in 2018, and held the position of Research Associate.
During this period his main research interests regarded the fields of integrated Photonics and Silicon Photonics, for applications in Telecom and Biomedics. He was involved in the FP7 European Project “FABULOUS”, aimed at the development of innovative optical components in the context of next generation optical networks,
and spent 6 months as a visiting reasercher at the Optoelectonics Research Centre (ORC) of the University of Southampton, where he had the chance to specialize in the topic of fiber-to-chip optical coupling.

He’s currently a research intern at Huawei Technologies Italia, working on the development of innovative solutions for external cavity semiconductor lasers for Telecom applications.

Riccardo Fabris

My interest in photonics appeared during the photonics course held at the University of Pavia. For this reason, I decided to carry out my Bachelor Thesis (and then also my Master Thesis) at the Integrated Photonics Laboratory.
The bachelor activity focused on a characterization of an optical waveguide in LiNbO3, that could be useful in optical communication. The main interest od this work was the wavelength conversion with polarization independence of the input signal.
Instead, the Master Thesis regarded the analysis of a microfluidic system which combined acoustical and optical wave. The main purpose of the system was studying the mechanical property of a single cell and determine its health.

I am now employed at Bright Solutions as Production Engineer.

Federica Cremaschi (MSc bio-engineering)

Nell’ottobre 2019 ho concluso il mio percorso di studi svolto presso la facoltà di Bioingegneria dell’Unipv. Dopo la laurea triennale mi sono iscritta al corso di specializzazione “Tecnologie per la salute”, un percorso che volge l’attenzione a quelli che sono i principali aspetti legati all’utilizzo e alla progettazione di una tecnologia, con particolare attenzione all’ambito biomedico. Tra i temi trattati ho avuto la possibilità di affacciarmi al mondo della fotonica, grazie ad alcuni crediti extra. Da qui l’interesse si è poi sviluppato nella ricerca di un argomento a cui lavorare per la tesi magistrale presso il laboratorio di fotonica integrata dell’Unipv, dove ho poi effettivamente svolto il mio lavoro di tesi. In particolare ho avuto l’opportunità di lavorare ad un progetto legato allo sviluppo di un nuovo sistema di misura microreologico basato sull’utilizzo di un chip microflidico integrato. Nel caso specifico il sistema ottico è stato testato studiando materiali viscoplastici dalla struttura molto complessa.
Attualmente lavoro nel settore biomedicale della multinazionale Johnson & Johnson.

Eriza Dalipi (BSc student bio-engineering)

Ho conseguito la Laurea Triennale in Bioingegneria presso l’Università degli studi di Pavia, svolgendo la mia tesi nel Laboratorio di Fotonica Integrata.
La mia attività di tesi ha riguardato lo sviluppo e la validazione di un microreometro ottico integrato, che ci ha permesso di determinare le proprietà reologiche di materiali complessi.

Attualmente frequento il corso di Sensoristica e Strumentazione Biomedica presso l’Università degli studi di Pavia.