Francesca Rossi

Italian National Research Council | CNR · Institute of Applied Physics "Nello Carrara" IFAC

Skin serves as a vital component for thermoregulation and acts as a barrier against external threats. Wounds compromise the integrity of the skin and can lead to serious pathologies. Therefore, effective treatment of skin wounds is imperative, particularly in cases of chronic wounds or in individuals with comorbidities. Fibroblast cells play a cruc...

Suturing has always been a crucial step during eye surgery and in its post-operative recovery. Indeed, sutures are time-consuming, expensive and often associated with complications, such as irritation of the cornea and/or conjunctiva, astigmatism and increased healing time. Moreover, thin tissues and tissues located in sites difficult to access, su...

This study evaluates the managerial sustainability of implementing a decision support system for industrial symbiosis through a recent business modeling methodology. The decision support system is intended to facilitate the identification of implementable industrial symbiosis good practices in a pilot project located in the industrial retro-port ar...

A study investigated the effects of blue LED light (410-430 nm) on wound healing in mice 19 with superficial and full-thickness skin wounds. The wounds were treated with blue LED light (20.6 20 J/cm 2 , 30 s), and biopsies were collected over 6 days. Results showed modulation of cytokine release, 21 increased number of granulocytes and mast cells,...

Fibroblasts play a crucial role in wound healing and skin fibrosis. It is also probably the cell model used to study in vitro photobiomodulation. Our previous in vivo results evidenced a 19 faster recovery in blue light-treated wounds (410-430 nm). In vitro experiments demonstrated that 20 the lower dose increases cell metabolism, while higher dose...

Light-based therapies have been proven to influence and perhaps reverse skin ageing at clinical, molecular and histologic levels. Laser technology decreases photodamage by promoting collagen type I and III synthesis and enhancing the expression of heat shock protein. Aims: This study aims to assess different doses of 675 nm irradiation on human der...

This is the first deliverable of Workpackage 5 of the FoodPackLab 2 project. It aims to provide an instrument to monitor project activities and their timings. The main purpose is to point out if the activities are on time, and, in case of a delay, it enables the consortium to react on time and, eventually, to activate the appropriate contingency pl...

This is the second deliverable of Waorkpackage 5. It aims to provide tips and tools for the organization of international events for SMEs, both online and in presence. At the time of the proposal writing, almost all the events were designed for running in presence, and the experience of the clusters (partners of the project) was mainly related to t...

Abstract: Background: Recent studies evidence that blue-LED-light irradiation can modulate cell responses in the wound healing process within 24 hours from treatment. This study aims to investigate blue-light (410-430 nm) photobiomodulation used in a murine wound model within six days post-treatment. Methods: A superficial wound was made in 30 CD...

Background: Fractional ablative and non-ablative lasers are useful treatments for skin rejuvenation. A procedure that provides the sequential application of fractional ablative followed by non-ablative laser treatment may reduce patients’ downtime and deliver better cosmetic results than with either laser alone. Objective: The purpose of the curren...

In spite of an extensive body of academic initiatives and innovative products, the toolkit of wound dressing has always revolved around a few common concepts such as adhesive patches and stitches and their variants. Our work aims at an alternative solution for an immediate restitutio ad integrum of the mechanical functionality in cutaneous repairs....

Dura mater repair represents a final and crucial step in neurosurgery: an inadequate dural reconstruction determines dreadful consequences that significantly increase morbidity and mortality rates. Different dural substitutes have been used with suboptimal results. To overcome this issue, in previous studies, we proposed a laser-based approach to t...

Objective: Despite potential advantages, a broad CO2 laser diffusion in neurosurgery was historically precluded by several operative limitations. Nonetheless, in the last decades, significant improvements, in particular the development of surgical scanners, have made CO2 laser surgery easier and reproducible. Hereby, we report our preliminary expe...

Cerebral ischemia is a multifactorial pathology characterized first by an acute injury, due to excitotoxicity, followed by a secondary brain injury that develops hours to days after ischemia. During ischemia, adenosine acts as an endogenous neuroprotectant. Few studies have investigated the role of A2B receptor in brain ischemia because of the low...

In recent years, photobiomodulation (PBM) has been recognized as a physical therapy in wound management. Despite several published research papers, the mechanism underlying photobiomodulation is still not completely understood. The investigation about application of blue light to improve wound healing is a relatively new research area. Tests in sel...

Wavefront shaping technology can correct for wavefront distortion in turbid media and restore the diffraction‐limited imaging. However, the extent of each correction's validity, or the isoplanatic patch, in bone is unknown. In this paper, we present 1) direct measurement and 2) an in‐situ modeling method of the isoplanatic patch in the murine skull...

Keloids are an exuberant response to wound healing, characterized by an exaggerated synthesis of collagen, probably due to the increase of fibroblasts activity and to the reduction of their apoptosis rate: currently no standard treatments or pharmacological therapies are able to prevent keloid recurrence. To reach this goal, in recent years some ph...

Cross‐polarised optical coherence tomography is a promising technique to reveal certain pathologic conditions in tissue. However, endoscopic devices with flexible small probes to detect diseased areas intraoperatively barely exist. We present an extension of a commercially available swept‐source OCT system. Applying a common‐path probe, the polaris...

In recent years, photobiomodulation (PBM) has been recognized as a physical therapy in wound management. Despite several published research papers, the mechanism underlying photobiomodulation is still not completely understood. The investigation about application of blue light to improve wound healing is a relatively new research area. Tests in sel...

We disclose the use of hybrid materials featuring Au/Ag core/shell nanorods in porous chitosan/polyvinyl alcohol scaffolds for applications in tissue engineering and wound healing. The combination of Au and Ag in a single construct provides synergistic opportunities for optical activation of functions as near infrared laser tissue bonding, and remo...

Oligodendrocytes are the only myelinating cells in the brain and differentiate from their progenitors (OPCs) throughout adult life. However, this process fails in demyelinating pathologies. Adenosine is emerging as an important player in OPC differentiation and we recently demonstrated that adenosine A2A receptors inhibit cell maturation by reducin...

Objective: This work aims at providing novel endovascular instrumentation to overcome current technical limitations of in situ endograft fenestration including challenges in targeting the fenestration site under fluoroscopic control and supplying mechanical support during endograft perforation. Technology: Novel electromagnetically trackable instru...

Non-destructive tools for the in situ evaluation of vine fruit quality and vineyard management can improve the market value of table grape. We proposed a new approach based on a portable fluorescence sensor to map the ripening level of Crimson Seedless table grape in five different plots in the East, Central-North and South of the Macedonia Region...

Previously published studies have evidenced that the blue LED light (420 nm) irradiation of superficial wounds is capable of inducing hemostasis by means of a photo‐thermo‐coagulation process: light absorption by means of hemoglobin triggers a local increase in temperature, thus leading to a coagulative effect.

Femtosecond laser is routinely used in Ophthalmology to cut donor and patient’s cornea in lamellar or penetrating keratoplasty. Different cut shapes can be chosen, on the basis of the specific patient’s pathology and morphology and on surgeon’s skills. Different cut geometries provide different internal load resistance of the cornea, and this can a...

Therapeutic and diagnostic methods based on photomechanical effects are attracting much current attention in contexts as oncology, cardiology and vascular surgery, for such applications as photoacoustic imaging or microsurgery. Their underlying mechanism is the generation of ultrasound or cavitation from the interaction of short optical pulses with...

The in situ laser fenestration is an interesting option for the endovascular treatment of short‐necked aneurysms with an intraoperative modification of a standard endograft. According to literature evidence, diode laser emitting in the near infrared wavelength (810 nm) can be successfully used to fenestrate the endograft fabric. This paper describe...

The aim of this study was to qualitatively evaluate the biomechanical load resistance of different surgical wound configurations (mushroom, zig-zag, anvil and conventional trephination) in penetrating keratoplasty (PK) by designing a 2D and a 3D finite-element biomechanical model of the cornea. A mathematical model of the human cornea was developed...

In every biological tissue, morphological and topological properties strongly affect its mechanical features and behaviour, so that ultrastructure, composition and mechanical parameters are intimately connected. Overall, it is their correct interplay that guarantees the tissue functionality. The development of experimental methods able to correlate...

In femtosecond laser assisted keratoplasty different surgical wound profiles can be performed, such as mushroom, zigzag, anvil, Christmas tree, etc. The cut shape is chosen by the surgeon on the basis of patient’s morphology and pathology and on the gained experience. This work aims to qualitatively evaluate the biomechanical load resistance of the...

1) Background: Andrographolide (AN), the main diterpenoid constituent of Andrographis paniculata, has a wide spectrum of biological activities. The aim of this study was the development of nanocochleates (NCs) loaded with AN and based on phosphatidylserine (PS) or phosphatidylcholine (PC), cholesterol and calcium ions in order to overcome AN low wa...

Mussel‐inspired polydopamine (PD) coating represents a promising route for constructing functional materials and finely tuning or completely changing their surface properties. In this work, a mild and effective method to realize the deposition of PD on keratin‐based films is reported. Reactive oxygen species (ROS), generated by keratin films doped...

After irradiation with a blue LED light photocoagulator, a faster healing process is observed in superficial skin wounds. This device has been used to induce a thermal effect and haemostasis in superficial abrasions. Our previous in vivo study in rat and mouse models, focused on the inflammatory phase within the healing process, showed a light-indu...

The laser-assisted lamellar and penetrating keratoplasty, supported by the use of laser welding procedure, is particularly suitable for keratoconus patients. Laser welding approach is based on the use of a near infrared laser that induces a photothermal effect mediated by a biocompatible chromophore (Indocyanine Green). The main characteristic is t...

Photoacoustic imaging and microsurgery have recently attracted attention for applications in oncology. Here, we present a versatile set-up to trigger vapor microbubbles around plasmonic nanoparticles by a combined light-ultrasound excitation. This system enables the detection and parametrization of bubbles as a function of several variables, such u...

SHG microscopy was successfully used to characterize the orientation of sutural lamellae within corneal samples by means of an epi-detection scheme. Sutural lamellae are located in the first 30 μm of the stromal layer below Bowman’s membrane; they affect the mechanical properties of the cornea and are responsible of the overall corneal stiffness. T...

We report on the use of organosilica shells to couple gold nanorods to functional peptides and modulate their physiochemical and biological profiles. In particular, we focus on the case of cell penetrating peptides, which are used to load tumor-tropic macrophages and implement an innovative drug delivery system for photothermal and photoacoustic ap...

The in-situ endograft fenestration, a possible surgical option for the minimally invasive treatment of aneurysms with unfavorable anatomy, is today limited by difficulties in targeting the fenestration site and by the lack of a safe method to perforate the graft. In this work we suggest the use of: a 3D electromagnetic (EM) navigator, to accurately...

Keratoconus is an eye disorder that causes the cornea to take an abnormal conical shape, thus impairing its refractive functions and causing blindness. The late diagnosis of keratoconus is among the principal reasons for corneal surgical transplantation. This pathology is characterized by a reduced corneal stiffness in the region immediately below...

Endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) repair (EVAR) involves the minimally invasive implantation of a stent-graft within the aorta to exclude the aneurysm from the circulation thus preventing its rupture. The feasibility of EVAR is highly dependent on the aorta morphology: the presence of one/both renal arteries emerging from the aneurysm i...

The potential therapeutic applications of targeting brown adipose tissue open new clinical avenues in fighting against metabolic pathologies. However, due to the limited brown depots in adult humans, dramatically reduced after birth, solid cell models to study human brown adipogenesis and its pathophysiological regulation are urgently needed. In ou...

The characterization of the ion channels in corneal endothelial cells and the elucidation of their involvement in corneal pathologies would lead to the identification of new molecular target for pharmacological treatments and to the clarification of corneal physiology. The corneal endothelium is an amitotic cell monolayer with a major role in prese...

In previous works a minimally invasive laser-assisted technique for vascular repair was presented. The technique rests on the photothermal adhesion of a biocompatible and bioresorbable patch containing Indocyanine Green that is brought into contact with the site to be repaired. Afterward the use of NIR millisecond-long light pulses generates a stro...

Keratoconus is an ophthalmic disease in which the cornea acquires an abnormal conical shape that prevents the correct focusing on the retina, causing visual impairment. The late diagnosis of keratoconus is among the principal causes of corneal transplantation surgery. In this study, we characterize the morphology of keratoconic corneas by means of...

The potential therapeutic applications of targeting brown adipose tissue open new clinical avenues in fighting against metabolic pathologies. However, due to the limited extension in adult humans of brown depots, which are dramatically reduced after birth, solid cell models to study human brown adipogenesis and its regulatory factors in pathophysio...

The healing process of superficial skin wounds treated with a blue-LED haemostatic device is studied. Four mechanical abrasions are produced on the back of 10 Sprague Dawley rats: two are treated with the blue-LED device, while the other two are left to naturally recover. Visual observations, non-linear microscopic imaging, as well as histology and...

Keratoconus is an ophthalmic disease in which the cornea acquires an abnormal conical shape that prevents the correct focusing on the retina, causing visual impairment. The late diagnosis of keratoconus is among the principal causes of corneal transplantation surgery. In several previous studies, a different organization sutural lamellae was observ...

Introduction: Merging robotics with laser eye surgery could enhance precision, repeatability and automation. During some eye laser procedures the patient is awake, thus eye stabilization is desired to avoid movements that could affect the treatment. Material and methods: The ESPRESSO platform has a two-stage actuation system to position a stabil...

A faster healing process was observed in superficial skin wounds after irradiation with the EMOLED photocoagulator. The instrument consists of a compact handheld photocoagulation device, useful for inducing coagulation in superficial abrasions. In this work we present the results of an in vivo study, in a murine model. Two superficial wounds were p...

The "all laser" assisted endothelial keratoplasty is a procedure that is performed with a femtosecond laser used to cut the donor tissue at an intended depth, and a near infrared diode laser to weld the corneal tissue. The proposed technique enables to reach the three main goals in endothelial keratoplasty: a precise control in the thickness of the...

Plasmonic nanoparticles and graphene can be used for generating photothermal effects and for amplifying optical signals. These characteristics are being exploited for a variety of applications in biophotonics. Here we discuss some light-activated materials based on plasmonic nanoparticles and graphene that we have recently developed as viable solut...

Laser assisted keratoplasty is nowadays largely used to perform minimally invasive surgery and partial thickness keratoplasty [1-3]. The use of the femtosecond laser enables to perform a customized surgery, solving the specific problem of the single patient, designing new graft profiles and partial thickness keratoplasty (PTK). The common character...

Their intense optical absorbance in the near-infrared window and chemical versatility make gold nanorods attractive for biomedical applications, such as photothermal therapies and photoacoustic imaging. However, their limited photostability remains a drawback of practical concern. In fact, when gold nanorods are irradiated with nanosecond laser pul...

A faster healing process was observed in superficial skin wounds after irradiation with the EMOLED photocoagulator. The instrument consists of a compact handheld photocoagulation device, useful for inducing coagulation in superficial abrasions. In this study, living animals were mechanically abraded in four regions of their back: two regions were l...

Laser assisted keratoplasty is largely used to perform minimally invasive surgery and partial thickness keratoplasty (PTK) [1-3], which can be performed through several different techniques. Such approaches are eligible with respect to the standard penetrating keratoplasty and would benefit a major comprehension of the deep stroma layers morphology...

A method of suturing the lens capsule of the eye in the event of accidental rupture thereof or to create a valve and/or to close a capsulorhexis by laser-induced welding onto the capsule's surface of a flap of biocompatible biological tissue prepared so as to be optically absorbent at the wavelength of the laser being used for welding. The method i...

We present recent achievements of minimally invasive welding of biological tissue and controlled drug release based on laser-activated nano-biomaterials. In particular, we consider new advancements in the biomedical application of near-IR absorbing gold nano-chromophores as an original solution for the photothermal repair of surgical incisions and...

Purpose: To describe a new laser-assisted penetrating keratoplasty technique combining a femtosecond anvil-like trephination pattern with the laser welding procedure. Design: Cohort prospective study with 1 year of follow-up (June 2011 through January 2013). Methods: This study was performed at Misericordia e Dolce Public Hospital, Prato, Ital...

Gold nanorods exhibit intense optical absorption bands in the near-infrared region of principal interest for applications in biomedical optics, which originate from sharp plasmon resonances. This high absorbance, combined with the biochemical inertness and targetability of gold nanoparticles, makes these materials excellent candidates to provide co...

Laser bonding is a promising minimally invasive approach, emerging as a valid alternative to conventional suturing techniques. It shows widely demonstrated advantages in wound treatment: immediate closuring effect, minimal inflammatory response and scar formation, reduced healing time. This laser based technique can overcome the difficulties in wor...

The blue-LED photocoagulator, named “EmoLED”, is a photohaemostatic device that enables an immediate stop of the bleeding in superficial wounds. The working principle is based on a light-induced coagulative process, ensured by a spectrally selective and spatially localized photothermal effect. The device is based on LED technology, emitting light i...

A faster healing process was observed in superficial skin wounds after irradiation with the EMOLED photocoagulator. The instrument consists of a compact handheld photocoagulation device, useful for inducing coagulation in superficial abrasions. The illumination is provided by a high power blue LED. Blue light is selectively absorbed by haemoglobin...

We propose a new approach to the robotic assisted ocular surgery. A Cone Beam CT is used to visualize the ocular area, by the use of a 3D image reconstruction. A software is used to transfer spatial information to a robotic arm, that can be used to move different end-effectors. A sensorized tool, equipped with force and position sensors, is connect...

Minimally invasive laser assisted surgery in ophthalmology is continuously developing in order to find new surgical approaches, preserve patient tissue and improve surgical results in terms of cut precision, restoration of visual acuity, and invasiveness. In order to achieve these goals, the current approach in corneal transplant is lamellar kerato...