We are witnessing a major investment in preventive and precision medicine with excellent results in increasing longevity, while preserving the quality of life and public health. New and intelligent technologies are playing a fundamental role in the construction of these new medical tools, relieving the effort of health services and making them more specialised and effective. The two biggest contributions are the areas of diagnosis and therapy, isolated or combined (theranostics), with gains in prevention, disease detection and respective mitigation through efficient therapeutics. It is known that an early detection of the disease allows a better use of the applied therapies and in lesser ailments for patients. We are attentive to new approaches for diagnostics, vital signs monitoring and analyses, and therapeutics in clinical and preclinical fields. i3N research is aligned in this direction and with the public policies (national, EU and UN objectives), fostering the development, beyond the state of the art, of innovative biomedical solutions with high potential for disease prevention, precision medicine and for therapies, with new medical devices, medical imaging systems, functional biomaterials and regenerative medicine.
The activity to be performed concerns:
1) Biomaterials, development of: functional materials, starting from nanoparticles and hybrids to nanocomposites to process scaffolds (hydrogels, aerogels, 3D printed structures) for tissue regeneration, bioactive and anti-microbial coatings, and nano-systems for cancer theranostics; and of hydroxyapatite and multifunctional bioactive glasses for bone regeneration; endo, exo, and endo-exo prostheses through additive methods, in ceramic and metallic materials, for the creation of prostheses that adapt more precisely to the individual needs of each patient.
2) Medical imaging, dosimetry and therapy, that includes: high resolution molecular imaging scanners: innovative preclinical PET and SPECT; BrainPET; and dedicated PET for accurate dosimetry in hadrontherapy; x-ray imaging (CT and EDXRFI), based on micropatterned gaseous detectors; hybrid medical dosimeters for interventional radiology; new theranostics combining encapsulated nanoparticles functionalized with positron emitter radionuclides and therapeutic agents.
3) Biosensors that includes: laser-induced graphene and its composites as electrochemical transducers for cost-effective, sustainable, miniaturised biosensors, namely for the detection of analytes with clinical interest (e.g. uric acid, dopamine, glucose, PSA, among others); vital signs monitoring systems, including machine learning approach and contactless, for clinical and health care, and home health care strategies; optical sensors based on several optical techniques: lab-on-fibre and lab-on-chip solutions for biosensing of different biomarkers in plasma, urine, saliva and sweat, namely, for heart failure, kidney diseases and stress biomarkers.
