Laboratory for Instrumentation, Biomedical Engineering and Radiation Physics (LIBPhys)

In a world were global challenges like the energy shortage, environmental protection, and economical problems in less developed areas must be addressed, there is a need for new solutions based on sound scientific foundations. Pushing the limits of technology requires a critical assessment and evaluation of available data related to the interactions of radiation with matter that is called “fundamental parameters”.

The lack of recent reliable values with low associated uncertainties has been pointed out by the scientific community as well as by industry and metrological laboratories. The research team has addressed this issue considering radiation from the visible and ultra-violet (VUV) to the X-rays and gamma-rays regimes.

R&D in instrumentation and associated techniques are a major drive for scientific and industrial advances. In LIBPhys, it plays an important role, being common to the different Groups and Thematic Strands.

Most sensitive are the applications to Biomedical and Biophysics Engineering. Nevertheless, the expertise of LIBPhys in instrumentation in the areas of cryogenics and of radiation detection and associated detector pulse acquisition and processing electronics is also an important asset, with significant R&D activity and scientific output. This expertise is visible at international level, with involvement of unit members in major international collaborations and in bilateral collaborations with internationally renowned partners.

This strand is devoted to the implementation and development of new X ray spectrometry techniques, combining them with imaging techniques and molecular techniques bridging physics and chemistry to Biomedical Sciences, Art and Cultural Heritage research and toxicology fields in human being, in food and in forensic sciences.

The main challenges of this thematic strand are the advances in X-Ray Fluorescence spectrometry, with new sources and new applications and strengthen this elemental technique with molecular techniques for structural characterization. The development of a compact portable spectrometer with doubly curved crystals, for monochromatic radiation permits the study in situ and in vivo of toxic elements like Pb, As, Cd and Hg.

The purpose of this Strand is to pursue excellence in biomedical engineering education, research, and innovation; creating and imparting knowledge for improving society, human health, and health care.

LIBPhys, has considerable expertise in four main directions of research and clinical intervention: Biomechanics; Dental Implants, Biosignal Processing; and Medical Image Analysis. Hemodynamic instrumentation development for non-invasive assessment of well-established clinical hemodynamic parameters (e.g. blood pressure, pulse wave velocity or augmentation index), laser-imaging techniques for microcirculation assessment and