Igor Stefanini

Lecturer and Senior researcher at the SUPSI. Currently he is the head of Medical Devices group at SUPSI-DTI-MeDiTech, where his academic research interests, mainly carried out in cooperation with Swiss industrial and academical partners, are focused on precision micro-technical systems and technologies for biomedical applications, particularly in the field of clinical & regenerative medicine. He’s responsible for Bachelor courses in Medical Technologies, for Master MSE courses in Biology, physiology and anatomy for engineers and student’s advisor at the same Master program. He earned a PhD in science at EPFL in 2006. So far, he led/participated at several applied and fundamental research projects with 1 SNSF project, 15 CTI/INNOSUISSE projects, 1 EUROSTARS/EUREKA project and more 30 direct mandates from third parties and private foundations, engendering 7 patents applications and more 40 national and international publications. He has already been independent expert appointed by the CP Start-Up (AGIRE Foundation) at the STARTCUP TICINO initiative program, coach appointed by the AGIRE Foundation for the annual Start-up Accelerator Program, coordinator of the Research Line in Biomedical Technologies at SUPSI-DTI, Director of the Foundation for Cardiological Research and Education (FCRE) and of the Swiss Institute for Regenerative medicine (SIRM) managed by FCRE, and research Coordinator and supervisor of the Cardiocentro Ticino Foundation (FCCT) research projects focused in Advanced Therapies and Biomedical Engineering. In previous research activities he has collected a deepened knowledge in different technological fields applied in the development of biomedical systems and devices, in particular for: 1) Valves - With the development of customer valves for different medical devices to manage the liquid like blood, medium or gas like air, oxygen, etc. 2) Microfluidic device and management - For performing the isolation, the detection and the quantification of exosomes secreted by cardiomyocytes cultivated in a customer bioreactor or real-time detect of different virus like: SARS-CoV-2, Zika, Dengue or Chikungunya and based on multifunctional silica membrane microfluidic biosensors. Another applied field is focused on dispensing active principle using in Dry-eyes syndrome therapy. 3) Miniature spectrometer and LED - Combined optoelectronics absorption spectroscopy and colorimetry methods for detecting liquid phase changes and recognising the type of liquid treated. This knowledge extends to optoelectronics methods for indirect pH measurements. Another field of deep knowledge related to optoelectronics is the photo-pletismography for acquiring blood’s O2 concentration and cardiac rhythms. 4) Bio-impedance measurement - With the applications in cell growth curve analysis (capacity effect, dielectric characterisation) using to detect impedance, in particular, phases and module of cell culture or part of biological tissue in liquid suspension. 5) Measurement methodology – With a deepened knowledge especially in all applications where the analytical or empirical models have been developed to understand physical phenomena under study. 6) Drive and acquisition electronics - Developed in all projects to manage the information and produce the correct actuations. 7) Actuators - Deepened knowledge in motors used in centrifugation process, or heating systems to control particular temperature; massager planar oscillator, mechano-sound vibration, micro vacuum and diathermy.