Angelo Taibi

• PhD
• Professor (Full) at University of Ferrara

Timepix4 is an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) developed by the Medipix4 international collaboration. It features a 448 × 512 pixel matrix that can be bump-bonded to pixelated sensors of various materials and thicknesses optimized for specific uses. Among its potential applications, Timepix4 can be utilized for spectral imaging, prov...

In this article, an electrolyte-gated aluminum oxide thin film transistor with a pentacene structure has been developed as an effective pH sensor. It has a high sensitivity, low power consumption, and low pH resolution. Electrolyte-gated organic semiconductor materials improve the performance of pentacene-based pH sensors. Aluminum oxide is an insu...

A plethysmograph is a device that quantitatively assesses volumetric variations in an organ or the entire body, typically resulting from fluctuations in blood flow. In this study, a strain-gauge sensor that measures changes in the volume of the neck was used to detect the the cerebral venous outflow in the internal jugular veins. The resulting elec...

In this study, the impact of the diffusion mechanism of a biomolecule in the nanocavity ( Tbio ) region on the electrical characteristics of a split-gate, step-channel electrolyte-insulated semiconductor vertical TFET (SGSC-EIS-VTFET) pH biosensor was investigated. The impact of the transport sensing mechanism, that is, diffusion-limited process an...

Micro-computed tomography ( $$\upmu$$ μ CT) is the gold standard for nondestructive 3D imaging of biomedical samples in the centimeter scale, but it has limited effectiveness in revealing intricate soft tissue details due to the limited attenuation contrast. Radiopaque contrast agents that accumulate in the structures of interest are employed to en...

The Jugular Venous Pulse (JVP) is considered a reliable parameter for the assessment of Central Venous Pressure (CVP). Here, the functionality of a cervical contact plethysmography system designed for non-invasive and operator-independent acquisition of the JVP signal, is shown. To validate the signal, it was recorded in supine and sitting position...

A cervical plethysmography system has been developed to monitor blood vessel pulses on the neck area and at the same time to record the electrocardiogram signal. The system was tested on subjects in upright (90°) and supine (0°) position. The proposed cervical plethysmography system can be used as a biomedical tool for cardiovascular screening in t...

It is well known that the space environment induces major alterations to various human physiological systems, determining a general deconditioning of the body. Medical research programs aim to keep the astronaut’s health status during the mission, enable their ready operation once they arrive at their destination, and allow their safe recovery when...

Objective . Differentiation of breast tissues is challenging in X-ray imaging because tissues might share similar or even the same linear attenuation coefficients μ. Spectral computed tomography (CT) allows for more quantitative characterization in terms of tissue density (ρ) and effective atomic number (Zeff) by exploiting the energy dependence of...

X-ray sources based on the inverse Compton interaction between a laser and a relativistic electron beam are emerging as a promising compact alternative to synchrotron for the production of intense monochromatic and tunable radiation. The emission characteristics enable several innovative imaging techniques, including dual-energy K-edge subtraction...

Echo-doppler examination of the jugular vessel is a powerful tool for the early diagnosis of cardiovascular disorders that can be further related to central nervous system diseases. Unfortunately, the ultrasound technique is strongly operator-dependent, so the quality of the scan, the accuracy of the measurement, and therefore the rapidity and robu...

The magnetron sputtering technique has been investigated in recent years with ever-growing interest as a verifiable solid target manufacturing technology aimed at the production of medical radionuclides by using low-energy cyclotron accelerators. However, the possible loss of high-cost materials prevents access to work with isotopically enriched me...

Differentiation of breast tissues is challenging in X-ray imaging because tissues might share similar or even the same linear attenuation coefficients $\mu$. Spectral computed tomography (CT) allows for more quantitative characterization in terms of tissue density and effective atomic number by exploiting the energy dependence of $\mu$. In this wor...

The jugular venous pulse (JVP) is a one of the crucial parameters of efficient cardiovascular function. Nowadays, limited data are available regarding the response of JVP to exercise because of its complex and/or invasive assessment procedure. The aim of the present work is to test the feasibility of a non-invasive JVP plethysmography system to mon...

The aim of this study was the preliminary assessment of a new cationic contrast agent, the CA4+, via the analysis of spatial distribution in cartilage of ex vivo bovine samples, at micrometer and millimeter scale. Osteochondral plugs (n = 18) extracted from bovine stifle joints (n = 2) were immersed in CA4+ solution up to 26 h. Planar images were a...

Photon sources based on inverse Compton scattering, namely, the interaction between relativistic electrons and laser photons, are emerging as quasimonochromatic energy-tunable sources either as compact alternatives to synchrotron facilities for the production of low-energy (10–100 keV) x rays or to reach the 1–100 MeV photon energy range, which is...

We present the conceptual design of a compact light source named BriXSinO. BriXSinO was born as demonstrator of the Marix project, but it is also a dual high flux radiation source Inverse Compton Source (ICS) of X-ray and Free-Electron Laser of THz spectral range radiation conceived for medical applications and general applied research. The acceler...

Cerebral venous outflow is investigated in the diagnosis of heart failure through the monitoring of jugular venous pulse, an indicator to assess cardiovascular diseases. The jugular venous pulse is a weak signal stemming from the lying internal jugular vein and often invasive methodologies requiring surgery are mandatory to detect it. Jugular venou...

The capture of scintillation light emitted by liquid Argon and Xenon under molecular excitations by charged particles is still a challenging task. Here we present a first attempt to design a device able to have a sufficiently high photon detection efficiency, in order to reconstruct the path of ionizing particles. The study is based on the use of m...

We present the conceptual designs of BriXS and BriXsinO (a minimal test-bench demonstrator of proof of principle) for a compact X-ray Source based on innovative push-pull ERLs. BriXS, the first stage of the Marix project, is a Compton X-ray source based on superconducting cavity technology with energy recirculation and on a laser system in Fabry-Pé...

Accurate and reproducible measurement of blood flow profile is very important in many clinical investigations for diagnosing cardiovascular disorders. Given that many factors could affect human circulation, and several parameters must be set to properly evaluate blood flows with phase-contrast techniques, we developed an MRI-compatible hydrodynamic...

The capture of scintillation light emitted by liquid Argon and Xenon under molecular excitations by charged particles is still a challenging task. Here we present a first attempt to design a device able to grab sufficiently high luminosity in order to reconstruct the path of ionizing particles. This preliminary study is based on the use of masks to...

Breast screening with mammography is the most effective method of detecting early-stage breast cancer and reducing related mortality. Among the intrinsic limits of mammography, in terms of clinical performance, the overlapping of normal and pathological tissues is one of the most influential. Some new techniques as Digital Breast Tomosynthesis (DBT...

Purpose The aim of this work was to compare, in a clinical study, digital mammography and synthetic mammography imaging by evaluating the contrast in microcalcifications of different sizes. Methods A retrospective review of microcalcifications from 46 patients was undertaken. A Hologic 3-Dimensions mammography system and a HD Combo protocol was us...

Cardiovascular haemodynamics alters during posture changes and exposure to microgravity. Vascular auto-remodelling observed in subjects living in space environment causes them orthostatic intolerance when they return on Earth. In this study we modelled the human haemodynamics with focus on head and neck exposed to different hydrostatic pressures in...

Interference effects are included in the X-ray coherent scattering models used in Monte Carlo codes by modifying each material form factor through a proper interference function, which is obtained directly from the measured scattering pattern. This approach is effective for non-biological materials, but it is impractical for biological tissues, due...

Abstract Breast Computed Tomography (bCT) is a three-dimensional imaging technique that is raising interest among radiologists as a viable alternative to mammographic planar imaging. In X-rays imaging it would be desirable to maximize the capability of discriminating different tissues, described by the Contrast to Noise Ratio (CNR), while minimizin...

It has been long recognized that dual-energy imaging could help to enhance the detectability of lesions in diagnostic radiology, by removing the contrast of surrounding tissues. Furthermore, X-ray attenuation is material specific and information about the object constituents can be extracted for tissue characterisation, i.e., to assess whether lesi...

MariX is a research infrastructure conceived for multi-disciplinary studies, based on a cutting-edge system of combined electron accelerators at the forefront of the world-wide scenario of X-ray sources. The generation of X-rays over a large photon energy range will be enabled by two unique X-ray sources: a Free Electron Laser and an inverse Compto...

Many research and application areas demand photon sources capable of producing quasi-monochromatic X-ray beams in the multi-keV energy range with reasonably high fluxes and compact footprints. Besides industrial, research, commercial and cultural heritage applications, various biomedical applications could benefit from the features of this type of...

This study relates to the INFN project SYRMA-3D for in vivo phase-contrast breast computed tomography using the SYRMEP synchrotron radiation beamline at the ELETTRA facility in Trieste, Italy. This peculiar imaging technique uses a novel dosimetric approach with respect to the standard clinical procedure. In this study, optimization of the acquisit...

Background: Congenital vascular disease is one of the leading causes of death in paediatric age. Despite the importance of paediatric haemodynamics, large investigations have been devoted to the evaluation of circulation in adults. The novelty of this study consists in the development of a well calibrated mathematical model of cardiovascular circu...

Objectives To evaluate the safety and efficacy of an innovative transdermal multiple wavelength diode laser in telangiectasia treatment. Methods A total of 94 females underwent treatment by means of a multiple wavelength laser. All the cases were treated by three cycles of 532 nm combined with simultaneous 808 nm pulse. OFF time between the cycles...

In this study we compared the image quality of a synchrotron radiation (SR) breast computed tomography (BCT) system with a clinical BCT in terms of contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), noise power spectrum (NPS), spatial resolution and detail visibility. A breast phantom consisting of several slabs of breast-adipose equivalen...

Coronary angiography is clinically used worldwide to diagnose diseases of coronary arteries. Despite its effectiveness, this technique is quite invasive and it is associated to significant risks due to the arterial catheterisation needed to inject the contrast agent. A valid alternative is using the K-edge subtraction method, which is based on the...

The limits of mammography have led to an increasing interest on possible alternatives such as the breast Computed Tomography (bCT). The common goal of all X-ray imaging techniques is to achieve the optimal contrast resolution, measured through the Contrast to Noise Ratio (CNR), while minimizing the radiological risks, quantified by the dose. Both d...

We present a conceptual design for a compact X-ray Source BriXS (Bright and compact X-ray Source). BriXS, the first stage of the Marix project, is an Inverse Compton Source (ICS) of X-ray based on superconducting cavities technology for the electron beam with energy recirculation and on a laser system in Fabry-Pérot cavity at a repetition rate of 1...

Many biophysical factors affect human circulation, so that. [...]

A quantitative characterization of the soft tissues composing the human breast is achieved by means of a monochromatic CT phase-contrast imaging system, through accurate measurements of their attenuation coefficients within the energy range of interest for breast CT clinical examinations. Quantitative measurements of linear attenuation coefficients...

Breast computed tomography (BCT) is an emerging application of X-ray tomography in radiological practice. A few clinical prototypes are under evaluation in hospitals and new systems are under development aiming at improving spatial and contrast resolution and reducing delivered dose. At the same time, synchrotron-radiation phase-contrast mammograph...

The need of a fs-scale pulsed, high repetition rate, X-ray source for time-resolved fine analysis of matter (spectroscopy and photon scattering) in the linear response regime is addressed by the conceptual design of a facility called MariX (Multi-disciplinary Advanced Research Infrastructure for the generation and application of X-rays) outperformi...

X-ray phase imaging has the potential to dramatically improve soft tissue contrast sensitivity, which is a crucial requirement in many diagnostic applications such as breast imaging. In this context, a program devoted to perform in-vivo phase-contrast synchrotron radiation breast computed tomography is ongoing at the Elettra facility (Trieste, Ital...

Purpose Purpose of this work is to compare image quality of Synthetic Mammography (SM) and Full Field Digital Mammography (FFDM) in four different Digital Breast Tomosynthesis (DBT) systems by using a semi-anthropomorphic phantom. Methods Four DBT systems (FujiFilm, GE, Hologic, IMS) were characterized by means of the semi-anthropomorphic CIRS-BR3...

Purpose Breast Computed Tomography (CT) is a dedicated 3D imaging modality that provides a complete volumetric reconstruction of the uncompressed organ, thus matching a high image quality with an acceptable delivered dose. The SYRMA-3D collaboration is developing the first clinical trial of phase-contrast breast CT with synchrotron radiation at the...

A program devoted to performing the first in vivo synchrotron radiation (SR) breast computed tomography (BCT) is ongoing at the Elettra facility. Using the high spatial coherence of SR, phase-contrast (PhC) imaging techniques can be used. The latest high-resolution BCT acquisitions of breast specimens, obtained with the propagation-based PhC approa...

Purpose Brain hemodynamics is fundamental for the functioning of the human being. Many biophysical factors affect brain circulation, so that a satisfactory understanding of its behavior is challenging. We developed a mathematical model to simulate cerebral and extracerebral flows and pressures in humans. Methods The model is composed of an anatomi...

Evaluation of the radioisotopic purity of technetium-99m (99mTc) produced in GBq amounts by proton bombardment of enriched molibdenum-100 (100Mo) metallic targets at low proton energies (i.e. within 15-20 MeV) is conducted. This energy range was chosen since it is easily achievable by many conventional medical cyclotrons already available in the nu...

We present a comparison between full field digital mammography and synthetic mammography, performed on several mammography systems from four different manufacturers. The analysis is carried out on both the digital and synthetic images of two commercially available mammography phantoms, and focuses on a set of objective metrics that encode the geome...

Purpose We propose a technique for the characterization of tissues, based on a hybrid phase contrast-attenuation imaging. The technique, first introduced in [1], makes use of a method for material basis decomposition proposed by Alvarez and Macovski [2]. We present a semi-analytical simulation of the imaging process, as well as a preliminary implem...

Purpose The purpose of this work is the measurement of the linear attenuation coefficients of surgical breast tissues using monochromatic computed tomography (CT) in the energy range from 20 to 38 keV. This research is in the framework of the development of a facility of phase-contrast breast CT with synchrotron radiation (SR). Methods CT images o...

Purpose We introduce a novel algorithm for dual energy (DE) subtraction proposed in [1], [2], based on an iterative procedure for taking into account the intrinsic polychromaticity of conventional X-ray tubes. The result is an improvement of background cancellation with respect to the currently available DE systems. The algorithm was applied to a s...

An extension to Geant4 Monte Carlo code was developed to take into account inter-atomic (molecular) interference effects in X-ray coherent scattering. Based on our previous works, the developed code introduces a set of form factors including interference effects for a selected variety of amorphous materials useful for medical applications, namely v...

Background The SYRMA-3D collaboration is setting up the first clinical trial of phase-contrast breast CT with synchrotron radiation at the Elettra synchrotron facility in Trieste, Italy. In this communication, a quality control protocol for breast CT is proposed, and a first test of image quality measurements is performed by means of a custom-made...

Advanced applications of digital mammography such as dual-energy and tomosynthesis require multiple exposures and thus deliver higher dose compared to standard mammograms. A straightforward manner to reduce patient dose without affecting image quality would be removal of the anti-scatter grid, provided that the involved reconstruction algorithms ar...

The jugular venous pulse (JVP) is one of the main parameters of cardiac function and is used by cardiologists in diagnosing heart failure. Its waveform comprises three positive waves (a, c and v) and two negative waves (x and y). Recently, it was found that JVP can be extrapolated from an ultrasound (US) video recording of the internal jugular vein...

Effects of aortic valve diseases on pressure profiles in selected locations of the human arterial system Wływ chorób zastawki aortalnej na przebiegi ciśnienia w wybranych miejscach układu tętniczego człowieka Abstract Aortic valve diseases such as aortic stenosis and aortic regurgitation, are the most frequent valvular heart diseases. The lesions i...

We present a novel application of strain-gauge plethysmography that is suitable to detect blood volume variations in the human venous system. The plethysmography system uses capacitive sensors that are electrically connected to a portable electronic unit to record changes of blood volume over time. Such system has been developed within a project th...

Objective: The gravitational gradient is the major component to face when considering the physiology of venous return, and there is a growing interest in understanding the mechanisms ensuring the heart filling, in the absence of gravity, for astronauts who perform long-term space missions. Approach: The purpose of the Drain Brain project was to...

Breast cancer is one of the most frequently diagnosed cancers and one of the leading causes of death for women worldwide. A key factor in treating and defeating such disease is early detection, which requires matching high image quality and an acceptable delivered dose. For these reasons, many research projects have been investigating 3D imaging mo...

A method for basis decomposition of materials, based on hybrid phase-attenuation X-ray imaging, is presented. The effective composition of the imaged object in terms of two basis materials is reconstructed from X-ray images formed by coherent plane waves. The range of effectiveness of the technique is evaluated by means of a simplified model of ima...

We have developed a numerical simulation method for predicting the time dependence (wave form) of pressure at any location in the systemic arterial system in humans. The method uses the matlab-Simulink environment. The input data include explicitly the geometry of the arterial tree, treated up to an arbitrary bifurcation level, and the elastic prop...

An anatomically detailed model consisting of a network of electric transmission lines is developed to simulate propagation of the pulse waves in humans. The simulations show that the real arterial tree geometry, together with the elastic and rheological parameters of particular segments, ensure an efficient protection of vital organs against pulse...

The present study aims to study the new method for estimating the pressure profiles during embolus (particle) transport in arteries. The probability of the embolism in various segments of the arterial tree using the Monte Carlo Method has been calculated. This probability is related to the size of the particle and the size of the embolus changes fr...

Cerebral hemodynamics in humans is affected by postural changes (variations of the brain-axis direction with respect to the gravity field) and alterations of the basal hydraulic conductances in the main extracranial vasculature (jugular stenosis). The combined action of these factors can affect basal pressures and flows at any point of the cardiova...

Background and purpose: A comprehensive parameter model was developed to investigate correlations between cerebral hemodynamics and alterations in the extracranial venous circulation due to posture changes and/or extracranial venous obstruction (stenosis). The purpose of this work was to validate the simulation results by using MR imaging and echo...

Purpose: Dual-energy image subtraction represents a useful tool to improve the detectability of small lesions, especially in dense breasts. A feature it shares with all x-ray imaging techniques is the appearance of fluctuations in the texture of the background, which can obscure the visibility of interesting details. The aim of the work is to inves...

There is growing interest in measuring cerebral venous outflow with ultrasound (US). However, results obtained with the current US Doppler methodology, which uses just a single value of cross-sectional area (CSA) of the vessel, are highly variable and inconclusive. The product of CSA and time-averaged velocity in the case of pulsatile vessels may b...

Purpose: The quality of a radiography system is affected by several factors, a major one being the focal spot size of the x-ray tube. In fact, the measurement of such size is recognized to be of primary importance during acceptance tests and image quality evaluations of clinical radiography systems. The most common device providing an image of the...

Purpose: Contrast-enhanced digital mammography is an image subtraction technique that is able to improve the detectability of lesions in dense breasts. One of the main sources of error, when the technique is performed by means of commercial mammography devices, is represented by the intrinsic polychromaticity of the x-ray beams. The aim of the wor...

Breast X-ray imaging is a continuous research field to define dedicated equipment, with specialized X-ray sources and efficient detectors to improve image quality with an equal or even lower patient dose. The Needle Imaging Plate HM5.0, produced by Agfa, has been characterized using synchrotron radiation to assess the performance of this novel imag...

Alterations in the extracranial venous circulation due to posture changes, and/or extracranial venous obstructions in patients with vascular diseases, can have important implications on cerebral hemodynamics. A hemodynamic model for the study of cerebral venous outflow was developed to investigate the correlations between extracranial blood redistr...

The purpose of the work described here was to investigate the feasibility of assessing the jugular venous pulse (JVP) using ultrasound (US) equipment. Three young healthy subjects underwent a B-mode US scan of the internal jugular vein (IJV) to acquire a sonogram sequence in the transverse plane. On each acquired sonogram, the IJV contour was manua...

We developed a mathematical model of the cerebral venous outflow for the simulation of the average blood flows and pressures in the main drainage vessels of the brain. The main features of the model are that it includes a validated model for the simulation of the intracranial circulation, and it accounts for the dependence of the hydraulic properti...

A prototype x-ray system based on a liquid-metal-jet anode was evaluated within the framework of the LABSYNC project. The generated spectrum was measured using a CZT-based spectrometer and was compared with spectra simulated by three Monte Carlo codes: MCNPX, PENELOPE and EGS5. Notable differences in the simulated spectra were found. These are main...

Mammography is still the main breast imaging modality for early detection of breast cancer. This chapter reviews the various stages of the imaging chain and explain the specific requirements to optimize image quality and patient dose in mammography. Besides, the aim of this chapter is to provide the reader with the latest information on the so-call...