Mobility experience with a research focus
Master students involved in the final research; PhD sandwich; Post Doc
Department of Industrial, Electronic and Mechanical Engineering (DIIEM)
The main research activities are aimed at the development of measurement techniques and methods for applications in biomedical and industrial fields as well as the performance testing of biomedical instrumentation (e.g. Ultrasound Systems for diagnostic applications) with particular attention to the metrological characterization of the methods and techniques developed.
Nowadays, a commonly accepted reference standard for Quality Control (QC) of diagnostic ultrasound instrumentation is still lacking, and this may be due to different factors, including the progressive evolution of the ultrasound (US) technologies, and the difficulties in determining meaningful QC parameters able to objectively assess US equipment performance and to detect those defects that could affect clinical outcomes. The research activities focus on the definition, implementation and validation of novel Imaging and Doppler test parameters and procedures to determine the in situ performances and metrological characteristics of the US diagnostic systems. The parameters validation is carried out through the comparison of the outcomes obtained for several US diagnostic systems produced by different companies, thanks to the collaboration with the main international producers of medical equipment. With this aim devices of the same technology level are evaluated under the same approach and criterions. The proposed test protocols are US phantoms based, in order to assure an in situ evaluation at operating conditions, and range from spatial to contrast resolution, from depth of penetration to accuracy in distance measurements, flow sensitivity and accuracy, registration error, etc. In this context, a combination of the above test parameters is studied to be included in a novel Quality Assessment (QA) protocol for US medical systems testing: a first approach involving the use of the Kiviat diagram has been investigated, assuming the diagram area, normalized with respect to one of the gold standards, as an index of the overall US system performance.
Moreover protocols for the QA of ultrasound phantoms are also developed (e.g. stability check) through different methods and techniques (e.g. Short Time Fourier Transform).
For a sample of the recent research activities, please refer to:
- Fiori, G.; Fuiano, F.; Conforto, S.; Sciuto, S.A.; Scorza, A. A Novel Equivalent Time Sampling-Based Method for Pulse Transit Time Estimation with Applications into the Cardiovascular Disease Diagnosis. Sensors 2023, 23,5005.
- Fiori, G., Fuiano, F., Schmid, M., Conforto, S., Sciuto, S.A., Scorza, A. A Comparative Study on Depth of Penetration Measurements in Diagnostic Ultrasounds Through the Adaptive SNR Threshold Method (2023) IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 72, art. no. 4003108
- Fiori, G.; Pica, A.; Sciuto,S.A. ; Marinozzi, F.; Bini, F.; Scorza, A. A Comparative Study on a Novel Quality Assessment Protocol Based on Image Analysis Methods for Color Doppler Ultrasound Diagnostic Systems. Sensors 2022, 22, 9868. https://doi.org/10.3390/s22249868
- Bocchetta, G., Fiori, G., Scorza, A., Belfiore, N.P., Sciuto, S.A. First results on the functional characterization of two rotary comb-drive actuated MEMS microgripper with different geometry (2022) 25th IMEKO TC-4 International Symposium on Measurement of Electrical Quantities, IMEKO TC-4 2022 and 23rd International Workshop on ADC and DAC Modelling and Testing, IWADC 2022, pp. 151-155.
English. A minimal knowledge of Italian language can be of help but it is not mandatory.
Required: Basic (bachelor level) knowledge of Physics (Mechanics, Fluids, Waves, Thermodynamics, Optics, Electricity and Magnetism), Mathematical Analysis and Geometry, Theory of Structures (Mechanical of Structures, Mechanical of Solids), Machines, Applied Mechanics, Basics of Electrotechnics and Electronics. Basic Knowledge of Microsoft Office suite, including MS Word and Excel.
Appreciated: Laboratory experience in mechanical and thermal measurements. Basic knowledge of Matlab© and/or LabView© programming.
Preferred for short PhD/PostDoc stay: Knowledge of working principles of data acquisition systems, strain and force measurement systems, temperature measurement systems, displacement and acceleration measurement systems, pressure and flow measurement systems, ultrasound instrumentation; basic knowledge of Matlab© and/or LabView© programming.
Master Research: 4-8
PhD sandwich: 4-12
Post Doc: 4-12