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.

Pyro-EHD ink-jet printing for direct functionalization of 3D lab-on-chip devices

Abstract: A challenging request in the fabrication of microfluidics and biomedical microsystems is a flexible ink-jet printing for breaking the rigidity of classical lithography. A pyroelectric-EHD system is presented. The system has proved challenging spatial resolution down to nanoscale, printing of high ordered patterns, capability of dispensing bio-ink as DNA and protein array for biosensing fabrication, single cells printing and direct printing of nanoparticles. With the method proposed high viscous polymers could be easily printed at high resolution in 2D or in 3D configuration. The pyro-EHD process has been proved for the fabrication of biodegradable microneedles for trasndermal drug delivery and 3D optical waveguides.

Phase map retrieval in digital holography: avoiding the under-sampling effect by a lateral shear approach

Abstract: In Digital Holography (DH) the numerical reconstruction of the whole wavefront refracted or reflected by a sample object allows one to extract the wrapped phase map mod, 2π. In fact, since the hologram is coded numerically as a digitized image, both the wavefront amplitude and phase can be reconstructed simultaneously to provide amplitude and phase contrast imaging. The resolution in the image plane is the reconstruction pixel size that depends on wavelength, reconstruction distance and the size of the CCD recording area. Efforts to improve the resolution of DH reconstructions have been accomplished, following various strategies: increasing of the hologram aperture by moving the camera in different positions or even by using synthetic aperture approaches, using a diffraction grating to record digital holograms with a wider solid angle in the object beam, or using multiple sources and/or multiple acquisitions. Although all of these methods allow one to increase the spatial resolution, one more complication exists concerning the loss of resolution that occurs in the usual DH reconstruction approaches. It can occur that the reconstructed wrapped phase map in the image plane is undersampled because of the limited pixel size which limits the spatial bandwidth of the reconstructed image. In such a case the phase distribution cannot be retrieved correctly by the usual unwrapping procedures. We show that the use of the digital Lateral-Shearing Interferometry (LSI) approach in DH provides the correct reconstruction of the phase map in the image plane, even in extreme cases where the phase profile changes very rapidly. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the method in a particular case where the profile of a highly curved silicon micro-electromechanical system membrane has to be reconstructed.

Quantitative determination of rapid biomass formation on pyro-electrified polymer sheets

Abstract: The ability of a bacterial strain to form a biofilm is strictly related to its pathogenicity. Bacterial adherence and early biofilm formation are influenced by chemical, physical and biological factors that determine their pathogenic properties. We recently presented in literature the ability of pyro-electrified polymer sheets to promote rapid biofilm formation, based on what we called biofilm electrostatic test (BET) carriers. Here we performed a step forward by presenting a comprehensive characterization of the BET methodology through a quantitative evaluation of the biomass on the BET-carrier in the very early stages of incubation. Two bacterial suspensions of Escherichia coli were added to the surface of the BET-carrier, with one order of magnitude difference in initial optical density. The biofilms were stained at different incubation times, while the crystal violet assay and the live/dead reaction kit were used for evaluating the biomass and the viability, respectively. The BET-carrier systematically promoted a faster biofilm formation even in case of very diluted bacterial concentration. The results suggest that the BET-carrier could be used for evaluating rapidly the ability of bacteria to form biofilms and thus their inclination to pathogenicity, thanks to the challenging acceleration in biofilm formation.

Lab on a chip imaging and quantitative phase contrast in turbid microfluidic channel

Abstract: We show that sharp imaging is possible in microfluidics in flowing turbid media by digital holography. Imaging results are demonstrated for phase objects, i.e. biological cells in microfluidic channels, in flowing liquids with suspended colloidal particles.

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.