Technologies

Bivalve mollusc shells are made mainly of CaCO₃ (ca 95%), with a small fraction of organic material. If from these shells this mineral is retrieved, they could become a renewable and sustainable “mine” of a “blue” CaCO₃. Bivalve mollusc shells, also after the removal of the animal flesh, maintain a certain quantity of organic substances, part in the muscle and part in the shell.

AIDD is an integrated tool and a radically new way to discovery new drugs for neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer’s, Epilepsy, Ageing, etc.).

The proposed technology consists of a portable device for monitoring the freshness of fish, based on its smell. The device is based on a gas sensor and pattern recognition software to correlate the sensor signal to the freshness of the food. The technology is designed for its integration into domestic or industrial refrigerators.

The final technology will add polarimetric capability to imaging cameras in the NUV/optical, providing simultaneous measurements of the different polarization states of the light. This will be obtained by the development of an innovative coating based on nanostructured emissive materials sensitive to the polarization of the incident light. A  double layer film of two organic systems will be coupled to image detectors so that the two polarization components of the incoming light are converted into two different colors.

Inert biomedical devices with modular load-bearing function designed with peculiar multi-domain composite microstructures. The reference compositional system is Zirconia-Alumina with a prevailing overall composition of customizable zirconia or alumina. Examples of devices are 3D structures consisting of parts with differentiated functional properties, due to different composition/microstructure/architecture, and further functionalizable ex-post to favor and improve the stabilization of the implantation by newly formed bone in superior quantity and quality.

22q11.2DS(DGS) deletion syndrome is a rare and phenotypically variable multiorgan syndrome, currently without any cure. Our aim is to develop a standardized approach to formulate pharmacological products useful for clinical trials direct to prevent some serious clinical manifestations of adolescence and adulthood, such as neuropsychiatric and musculoskeletal diseases, or to eliminate or improve cardiovascular defects during embryonic development.

NIRS is a non-invasive technique for the human brain cortex imaging based on the measurement of the NIR light emitted by suitable optical sources placed on the patient head and backdiffused to the surface after passing through the brain tissues. NIRS monitors the percentage of oxygenated and reduced hemoglobin  in the blood, and it allows the real time functional imaging of the brain cortex also in tomographic mode (Diffuse Optical Tomography - DOT).

INCIPIT technology allowed the implementation of a multifunctional, micro-structured and electroconductive therapeutic product to treat patients with myocardial infarction, the leading cause of death for cardiovascular disease.  Current therapies (drugs, bypass, angioplasty) do not restore the functionality of damaged myocardial tissue.

At IFN-CNR, in collaboration with Politecnico di Milano-Department of Physics, we have developed Raman microscopy approaches compatible with the study and characterization of biological and industrial samples. In detail, our facility houses a self-built spontaneous confocal Raman microscope with the following characteristics: two excitation lasers (660nm and 785nm), inverted microscope (Olympus IX-73) and Princeton spectrometer / CCD.

Mirrors for space applications, besides featuring suitable optical properties, should be light, resistant to mechanical stresses, and unsensitive to light-shadow thermal cycling. The standard optical materials easily fulfill optical and thermal requirements, but are fragile, and the mirrors must be thick (typically 1/6 of the diameter). For this reason they are heavy, and the only available solution is to lighten them, by removing material from the back side, still preserving the necessary mechanical robustness and optical quality.

Extracellular vesicles produced by teratocarcinoma cells were isolated and characterized. Functional assays on glioblastoma (GBM) cell cultures showed the inhibitory effect of these vesicles on tumor cell migration, without inducing undesirable effects such as increased cell proliferation or chemotherapy resistance.

The aim of the research group is the creation of 3D models (microorgan/ organoids) constructed using samples obtained from patients, both biopsy samples and samples collected with non-invasive techniques (exhaled breath condensate, induced sputum, blood samples).

Mergers e Acquisitions represent important forms of business deals because of the volumes involved in the transactions and the role of the innovation activity of companies. By considering the patent activity of about one thousand companies, we develop a method to predict future acquisitions by assuming that companies deal more frequently with technologically related ones.

This invention comprises an interrogation and readout differential method for chemical sensors based on Surface Plasmon Resonances (SPR). The integration of the SPR sensing unit (chip or other), as intermediate reflecting element of a Fabry-Perot (FP) optical resonator, is the starting point for the application of this method.

The object of the technology is the development of a transferable methodology from the laboratory scale to the pilot scale to be validated in the industrial setting for the treatment of basic waste of natural polymers of agro-food or manufacturing industry.