swiss label - Com Consulting SA

architecture for network systems, logistics and production systems, advanced
materials, mechatronics, on-board systems and telecommunications.
Master’s degrees include courses in: precision production (in collaboration
with a Chinese university), intelligent systems and applied informatics (in
collaboration with the University of Lugano – USI), and other specialisations
aimed at the engineering world in collaboration with other Swiss
SUPs. Research is an extremely important activity with a budget of more
than 50% of the department’s net turnover, and actively employs more
than 100 researchers. The 4 institutes that make up the DTI are a point
of reference for the local economic environment and comprise: the
Institute CIM (Computer Integrated Manufacturing) for Sustainable
Innovation (ICIMSI), Dalle Molle Institute for Artificial Intelligence
(IDSIA), the Systems and Applied Electronics Unit (ISEA), and the
Institute of Systems for Information and Networking (ISIN).
ISEA-BIOMEDTECH GROUP
The BIOMEDtech group at the ISEA unit was
created in 2009 and arose by the express wish of the
Cardiocentro Ticino Foundation, the Swiss Stem Cell
Bank, and the Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory of
Lugano to encourage interactions at local level in the
field of applied medical and biological research and
the life sciences generally with the technical sciences.
The collaboration with SUPSI was immediately put
into action in an initiative called the "BIONOVA
project", in which the SUPSI collaborator, Dr Igor
Stefanini, was taken on as a member of staff of the
three companies based at the Cardiocentro and given
the job of identifying and analysing possible projects,
of materialising them through the research of partners
and of managing their organisation and administration/supervision.
The first positive result was achieved with the approval by the CTI (Swiss
Commission for Technology and Innovation) of the “STAGRA” project –
a device for treating adipose tissue through the extraction of mesenchymal
stem cells. The aim of this project is to develop an automated and highly
efficient machine that can separate and concentrate adult stem cells
obtained from the adipose tissue of a patient in order to reinfuse them back
into the same patient or for the purpose of autologous storage of
mesenchymal stem cells. Another study under development in collaboration
with the Swiss Stem Cell Bank is the so-called “TENOCITI” project, an
implementation system for activating differentiation in tenocytes of
mesenchymal stem cells. The project aims to produce a controlled implementation
system that can be used to differentiate mesenchymal stem cells
in tenocytes, the cells of the tendons.
Together with Cardiocentro Ticino the group is developing the “POWER-
STIM” project, a microgenerator for self-powered pacemakers and neurostimulators,
supported by Professor Tiziano Moccetti. The project aims to
carry out a feasibility study into the creation of a device that makes it
possible to prolong the life of pacemakers by recovering the mechanical
Swiss Label Ticino 2010
Fondazione Cardiocentro Ticino
Via Tesserete 48 - CH-6900 Lugano
Tel. +41 91 805 31 11
www.cardiocentro.org
C O M PA N Y P RO F I L E
© Cardiocentro/Swiss Stem Cell Bank
© Cardiocentro/Swiss Stem Cell Bank
Laboratorio di Diagnostica Molecolare SA
Via Tesserete 48 - CH-6900 Lugano
Tel. +41 91 960 37 07
www.ldm.ch
energy generated by the patient’s movement and using it to
recharge the device’s accumulator.
Another highly positive result is certainly the approval of an
initial grant from the CTI to carry out a pre-study for the
“CORONART” project to develop an artificial model that
simulates the mechanical behaviour of a coronary blood
vessel, which is proposed by Dr Giovanni Pedrazzini. This
will have positive repercussions in the following areas: in the
methodology adopted to validate the instrumentation used
in mini-invasive interventionist cardiology, in training costs,
in the quality of training itself and therefore, ultimately, in
health costs.
Projects still in the definition phase include “NOWIRE – RF Networking
Data in Intensive Healthcare Rooms” and “BLOODEXTRACTOR”, an
extractor of cord blood. The first, which is proposed by Dr Tiziano Cassina
(CCT) has the objective to develop a new system for an integrated wireless
communication network for monitoring patients in intensive care; the
second, which is proposed by Dr Gianni Soldati (SSCB), aims to produce
a single-use medical device for the extraction of cord blood in an optimal
and standardised fashion.
Currently, the BIOMEDtech research group is composed of around 10
researchers who work in an interdisciplinary sector characterised by
strong innovation, in which engineering applied to the life sciences –
medicine, cell and molecular biology – opens up horizons and prospects
for improving the quality of life and giving new momentum to the
economic development of Ticino.
Swiss Stem Cells Bank SA
Via Tesserete 48 - CH-6900 Lugano
Tel. +41 91 260 32 06
www.stembank.ch
Laboratorio di Diagnostica Molecolare SA
Via Tesserete 48 - CH-6900 Lugano
Tel. +41 91 960 37 07
www.ldm.ch
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