Pietro Ferraro

Bio: Pietro Ferraro is an academic researcher from National Research Council. The author has contributed to research in topics: Digital holography & Holography. The author has an hindex of 61, co-authored 653 publications receiving 12666 citations. Previous affiliations of Pietro Ferraro include Aeritalia & Centre national de la recherche scientifique.

Red blood cell as optofluidic tunable lens

Abstract: We show that seeing an erythrocyte-ensemble as microlens-array, detection of abnormal cells can be made rapidly and efficiently without recurring to subjective shape analysis of image by the doctor or by sophisticated image processing tools, but rather by exploiting their abnormal shape alterations affecting the lens-focusing properties. Demonstration of how aberrations affect the focusing properties of the RBCs is given by Harthman-Shark approach and Zernike polynomial-fitting, as occurs for wavefront aberration correction in adaptive modern astronomic telescopes. The results show how the concept of biological lens could be addressed for revolutionary integration between photonics and biology and that a fast blood pre-screening can be performed by the proposed approach.

Unusual 3D lithography approaches for fabrication of polymeric photonic microstructures

Abstract: Novel and intriguing lithographic approaches based on instabilities of liquid polymers and electro-hydro-dynamic at nanoscale have been developed. The unusual fabrication methods were aimed at fabricating 3D polymeric microstructures. A variety of microstructures were fabricated and tested for applications in different fields

Microfluidic system based on the digital holography microscope for analysis of motile sperm

Abstract: Digital holography (DH) has been employed in the retrieval of three dimensional images of bull's sperm heads. The system allows a three dimensional analysis of the sperm morphology by means of a Digital Holographic Microscope (DHM). Microscopic holography measurements are performed by projecting a magnified image of a microscopic hologram plane onto a CCD plane. This could constitute the basis of an alternative method for the zoothecnic industry aimed at the investigation of morphological features and the sorting of the motile sperm cells. Indeed, one of the main advantages of digital holography consists in its full non-invasivity and in the capability of investigating the shape of the sperm cells without altering their characteristics. In particular the proposed technique could be applied to investigate the frequency of aberrant spermatozoa. Until now, in fact, such industrial investigations have been mainly performed by means of specific painting probes: unfortunately this technique dramatically reduces the vitality of the sperm cells and can even cause chromosome aberration, making them useless for the zootechnical applications.

Real-time FPM reconstruction and misalignment correction by numerical Multi-Look and GAN

Abstract: Fourier Ptychographic Microscopy (FPM) is a powerful bioimaging tool. Here we show numerical Multi-Look FPM and GAN-based reconstruction of biological samples to get rid of system misalignments and hone the FPM use in clinical practice.

Compact holographic microscope for imaging flowing microplastics

Abstract: The presence of dispersed plastic particulates in the environment is an ecological problem of increasing relevance, posing in addition potential health risks as they enter the food chain. In the last years, increasing efforts are being spent to study and characterize the microplastics found in nature, particularly in aquatic environments. At the same time, there is a need to advance the instruments and techniques necessary to perform fast, quantitative, and reliable analysis of microplastics. In this framework, we present a compact and cost-effective holographic microscope, integrated with a commercial microfluidic chip to visualize and evaluate microplastic samples in flowing conditions. The preliminary results show that different microplastic samples can be clearly imaged in-flow through a Digital Holography microscope. This is the first step for assessing novel strategies for the detection and identification of microplastics.

Fourier-transform method of fringe-pattern analysis for computer-based topography and interferometry

Abstract: A fast-Fourier-transform method of topography and interferometry is proposed. By computer processing of a noncontour type of fringe pattern, automatic discrimination is achieved between elevation and depression of the object or wave-front form, which has not been possible by the fringe-contour-generation techniques. The method has advantages over moire topography and conventional fringe-contour interferometry in both accuracy and sensitivity. Unlike fringe-scanning techniques, the method is easy to apply because it uses no moving components.

Fiber grating sensors

Abstract: We review the recent developments in the area of optical fiber grating sensors, including quasi-distributed strain sensing using Bragg gratings, systems based on chirped gratings, intragrating sensing concepts, long period-based grating sensors, fiber grating laser-based systems, and interferometric sensor systems based on grating reflectors.