PEOPLE
We are a group of people passionate about electronic technologies for medical devices, respiratory medicine and respiratory physiology. We like to challenge ourselves addressing open issues in medicine and physiology in general, but especially when concerning diagnosis and management of respiratory disorders or technologies for respiratory support, from simple CPAP devices to the most complex systems for mechanical ventilation in ICU.
STAFF
Raffaele Dellacà
Raffaele Dellaca’ has a Master degree in Information Technology Engineering from the Politecnico di Milano (1997) and a PhD degree in Biomedical Engineering (2001). Since 2011 he is Associate Professor of Biomedical Electronics at the Department of Electronics, Informatics and Biomedical engineering of the Politecnico di Milano University and has been awarded as Raine Visiting Professor at University of Western Australia, Perth, since 2016. He is responsible for the Technologies for Respiration (TechRes) Laboratory. Dr. Dellaca’ main research interests are in the area of respiratory physiology, in particular on respiratory mechanics, linear and non-linear modelling of respiratory system mechanical properties, development of new technologies for the analysis of respiration, mechanical ventilation and anaesthesia in adults and newborns. He is responsible or collaborating to several research projects sponsored by public agencies, foundations and companies. He is author of more than 100 full papers published on international peer-reviewed journals, 11 book chapters and 18 patents.
Chiara Veneroni
Chiara Veneroni has a Master and a PhD degree in Biomedical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano (2009 and 2014). Since 2014 she has a Post-Doc position at the Department of Electronics, Informatics and Biomedical engineering of Politecnico di Milano University. Her interest is in respiratory physiology and respiratory supports. Her primary focus is the management of preterm infants from the resuscitation at birth till their respiratory management in intensive care units. However, she is also interested in studying the pathological changes of small airways and lung parenchyma in the adult population. She studies methods for bedside lung function assessment and respiratory system’s mathematical models to improve our understanding of patho-physiological changes in the respiratory system and optimize the treatments. She supervised more than 20 Bachelor and Master theses. She attended several international congresses. She published 18 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals.
Emanuele Ghilotti
Emanuele Ghilotti earned an MSc in Biomedical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano in May 2023, with a thesis titled “ Development and validation of an automatic algorithm for synchronized mechanical ventilation and a neonatal breath simulator ”.
Since June 2023, he has been a PhD candidate at the TechRes Lab and Erasmus MC in Rotterdam (The Netherlands), where is currently conducting his doctoral research. His project focuses on the development of a novel laparoscopic insufflator for minimally invasive surgery and its validation through clinical trials.
Elena Barzanti
Elena Barzanti graduated cum laude with an MSc in Biomedical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano in October 2023 with a thesis titled “A novel tool based on oscillometry for individualizing surfactant administration in preterm newborns”.
Since November 2023, she has been a PhD student at the TechRes Lab. Her research aims at developing a novel non-invasive multiparametric approach for the individualization of respiratory support and treatment in preterm newborns.
Emanuele Zanni
Emanuele Zanni graduated cum laude with an MSc in Biomedical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano in December 2023. His thesis, titled “Design and Testing of New Solutions for Enhancing Sensor Response in E-Nose for Exhaled Breath Analysis,” focused on improving sensor performance for breath diagnostics.
Following his graduation, from February to August 2024, he continued his work in the field as a research fellow, contributing to advancements in electronic nose technology. Since September 2024, he has been a PhD student at TechRes Lab, working on the project “Novel Electronic Nose Technologies for Exhaled Breath Diagnostic Tests.” His research aims to develop cost-effective devices for medical diagnostics by analyzing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) present in exhaled breath through innovative electronic nose designs.
In addition to his research, Emanuele serves as a co-advisor for MSc Biomedical Engineering students, guiding them in their thesis work.
Gabriele Paroli
Gabriele Paroli graduated cum laude with an MSc in Biomedical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano in April 2023. His thesis, titled “Development and In Vitro Validation of a Novel Respiratory Device to Study Lung Function Mechanics During High G-Flights,” focused on innovative respiratory technologies.
Since May 2023, he has been a research assistant at the TechRes Lab, working on projects in the same field as his MSc thesis.
Ilaria Girimonte
Ilaria Girimonte graduated cum laude with an MSc in Biomedical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano in October 2024. Her thesis, titled “A Novel Neonatal Ventilation System Providing Non-Invasive Respiratory Support Synchronous to Transcutaneous Diaphragm Electromyography,” was developed in collaboration with Amsterdam UMC.
Since November 2024, she has been a PhD Candidate at the TechRes Lab. Her research aims to develop a system that drives mechanical ventilators in real-time using non-invasive transcutaneous diaphragmatic electromyography, enabling a novel, simple, and effective ventilation mode for newborns.
PAST MEMBERS
STAFF
Emanuela Zannin
Dr Zannin obtained her Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering in 2010 and 2005, respectively, both from Politecnico di Milano, Italy. Her expertise is in novel technologies for monitoring lung function, diagnosing lung diseases, and personalizing respiratory support strategies, with a focus on neonatal applications. She also has a commitment toward the development of technological solutions affordable and appropriate for neonatal care in low-resource settings. Dr Zannin was a short-term visiting academic at the Murdoch Children Research Institute (Melbourne, Australia) in 2011 and at the University of Western Australia in 2018. She was awarded a Fellowship of the European Respiratory Society for a project on lung function markers of chronic lung disease of infancy that she carried out at the University Children’s Hospital (Basel, Switzerland) between 2016 and 2018. Dr Zannin main career achievement is the development of a new method for monitoring lung volume recruitment. This method has been patented in 2006, validated in preclinical models of respiratory distress syndrome (Dellacà et al. 2009 and 2011) and lung prematurity (Zannin et al. 2014), and applied in human infants during different respiratory support modes (Dellacà et al. 2013, Zannin et al. 2016). This method has been implemented into a neonatal mechanical ventilator, which is now commercially available. Between 2008 and 2016, Dr Zannin was co-founder of Restech srl, a spin-off company of Politecnico di Milano, aiming at developing and commercializing novel biomedical devices for lung function evaluation. Dr Zannin is author of 36 peer-reviewed papers and five book chapters. She serves as Review Editor in Frontiers in Network Physiology and as a regular reviewer for journals publishing pediatric and respiratory medicine articles. She is a member and elected secretary of the “Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and Pediatric Intensive Care Unit” Group of the European Respiratory Society.
Valeria Ottaviani
Thesis Title: Improving respiratory support of preterm newborns by bedside characterization of lung mechanics and respiratory control
Valeria Ottaviani obtained her MSc in Biomedical Engineering in April 2017 at Politecnico di Milano. Since June 2017, she joined TECHRes Lab, working on the development of wearable device to analyse breathing pattern and saline/water balance during cycling (Smart hydration garment – Smyt). In November 2017, she started a Ph.D. aimed at improving respiratory support of preterm newborns by bedside characterization of lung mechanics and respiratory control. She developed tools that clinicians can use at the bedside to evaluate factors that may impact infants’ inadequate gas exchange, as accuracy of pressure and volume delivered, respiratory system mechanic, thoracoabdominal movements, respiratory drive and central breathing pattern generator. She supervised five MSc and one BSc thesis. Moreover, she participates at the organization and development of practical session of the “Corso per formatori in tecnologie per l’assistenza respiratoria neonatale” in collaboration with the Società Italiana di Neonatologia (SIN).
She Obtained her PhD in Bioengineering in November 2021.
Davide Bizzotto
Thesis Title: Methods and Technologies for Advanced Respiratory Support Modalities
Davide Bizzotto obtained his MSc in Biomedical Engineering in October 2017 at Politecnico di Milano. Since November 2017, he joined TECHRes Lab, working on the development of new technologies and methods for the respiratory monitoring of the salt-water balance during physical exercise (Smart hydration garment – Smyt). In February 2019, he started a Ph.D. aimed to investigate the role of the upper airways and physiological breathing pattern variability during non-invasive ventilatory (NIV) support to develop new ventilation modes able to improve the effectiveness of NIV. He developed a blower-based mechanical ventilator to perform real-time Forced Oscillation Technique (FOT) analysis during invasive and non-invasive ventilation currently employed in numerous studies aimed to optimize the ventilatory strategies. He supervised various MSc and BSc thesis in the field of his Ph.D. and the development of a new device for evaluating lung function in asthmatic horses.
He obtained his PhD Degree cum laude in Bioengineering in July 2024.
Stefano Robbiani
Stefano Robbiani graduated in MSc Biomedical Engineering in April 2020 at Politecnico di Milano with the thesis “Effects of a novel treatment on fetal lung pressure and breathing pattern monitored by a custom-made implantable device in an experimental model of Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia”, in collaboration with the University of Western Australia (UWA). Since November 2020 he is PhD student at TechRes Lab working on a new device for lung diagnosis based on the combination of the electronic nose technology and Forced Oscillation Technique (FOT). He is working on a project funded by Regione Lombardia consisting in a register for COVID 19 patients, involving two universities and 6 clinical centers. During his period in the laboratory he took part in the realization of a wearable device for real time swimming monitoring, continued the work on his master thesis on Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH) in collaboration with UWA, and collaborated with Chiesi Farmaceutici on medication delivery in upper airways.
Sofia Poletto
Sofia Poletto graduated cum laude with an MSc in Biomedical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano in April 2021. Her thesis, titled “A Novel Closed-Circuit Mechanical Ventilation System to Assess Lung Mechanics During Xenon Synchrotron Radiation Imaging,” was developed in collaboration with the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble.
Since May 2021, she has been a PhD student at the TechRes Lab, working on the project “New Technologies for Safe and Effective Respiratory Support During Emergencies and in Low-Resource Settings – SAFER,” which won the Polisocial Award 2020. Her research focuses on developing a non-invasive mechanical ventilator that is low-cost, energy-efficient, and independent of oxygen sources. The device is designed for use in resource-limited contexts, such as African countries, or in high-emergency scenarios like those encountered during the COVID-19 pandemic.