An article published in Sole 24ore Economia tells of the high temporal resolution optical technology developed by the start-up pioNIRS, a spin off of the DEIB, thanks to which it is possible to monitor how the disease progresses and the rehabilitation phases in Covid-19 patients. Time-resolved near infrared spectroscopy (Td-Nirs) uses laser pulses to investigate the behavior of blood flowing in our tissues carrying oxygen, the fuel necessary for the functioning of all organs. The technology devised by the company was integrated into a device the size of a book and wearable like a backpack. Its applications range from medical diagnostics to neurophysiology to agri-food.

The Td-Nirs technique is able to monitor muscle oxygenation and carry out non-invasive brain measurements in real time through the analysis of light impulses propagated by biological tissues (muscles and brain) which are very widespread materials, restoring some chemical properties. physical. This is thanks to the relationship that exists between the characteristics of a material and the way in which light propagates within it. The diffusion of light pulses in the tissue changes its temporal shape. The pioNIRS detection device reconstructs it photon by photon, measuring the arrival times of each particle of light with a resolution of picoseconds (thousandths of a billionth of a second).