Research interests

Current projects focus on the following basic and applied research activities:

Thrombogenicity of blood contacting medical devices

• Microfluidic flow-based platforms, able to stimulate platelets with abnormal shear-stress patterns typical of blood medical devices (mechanical heart valves, ventricular assist devices and blood oxygenators)
• Microfluidic flow-based platforms for testing the efficacy of antiplatelet drugs under hyper-shear conditions
• Device Thrombogenicity Emulator (DTE): combining advanced computational and experimental techniques for optimizing the thrombogenic performance of cardiovascular devices
• Evaluation of the thrombogenicity of material surfaces of blood-contacting devices

Platelet function testing

• Point-of-care platelet aggregation systems, integrating microfluidics, electronics and impedance measurements
• Shear-mediated thrombus formation on collagen-coated microchannels, mimicking physiologic and stenotic arteries

In vitro thrombogenicity testing

• Platelet activity state (PAS) assay, allowing the measurement of the real-time thrombin production rate of activated platelets
• Hemodynamic Shearing Device (HSD) a state-of-the-art benchtop system designed to expose platelets to defined levels and patterns of shear-stress

Platelet-on-chip technologies

• Lab-on-a chip systems for continuous platelet separation from whole blood
• On-chip platelet cell counter for rapid and automated measurement of platelet concentration

Team

Faculties
	Alberto Redaelli, PhD Full Professor Computational Fluid Dynamics Tel.: +39-02-2399-3375 email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
	Giuseppe Passoni, PhD Associate Professor Computational Fluid Dynamics Tel.: +39-02-2399-6232 email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
	Silvia Bozzi, PhD Associate Professor Computational Fluid Dynamics Tel.: +39-02-2399-4146 email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
PhD Students
	Tatiana Mencarini, MSc email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Master Students
	Anna Zucchi, BSc
	Chiara De Angeli, BSc
	Elena Zuccoli, BSc
	Eleonora Puce, BSc
	Francesca Verderio, BSc
	Francesca Vicinanza, BSc
	Ilaria Pasolini, BSc
	Keila Da Silva, BSc
	Leonardo Zeni, BSc
	Martina Bonni, BSc
	Valeria Guadagno, BSc
Alumni
PhD alumni Filippo Consolo, PhD Annalisa Dimasi, PhD Matteo Nobili, PhD   2022 Maria Chiara Novara, MSc Annelisa Valente Perrone, MSc Lorenza Recchione, MSc 2021 Sara Baghaei, MSc Michela Morlacchi Bonfanti, MSc 2020 Marta Bonora, MSc Tomaso Gianiorio, MSc Elisabetta Russo, MSc Stefano Andrea Rizzo, MSc Ismaele Fioretti, MSc Agnese Manzoni, MSc Dario Biancospino, MSc 2019 Tatiana Mencarini, MSc Andrea Mazzoleni, MSc Federica Vercellino, MSc Chiara Ferrari, MSc Gabriele Mantica, MSc 2017 Andrea Santoleri, MSc 2016 Giulia Sferrazza, MSc Giulia Motolone, MSc Gabriella Sarno, MSc Silvia Sammartino, MSc 2015 Stefano Speranza, MSc Roberta Testa, MSc 2014 Maria Grazia Pietropaolo, MSc Giulia Marazzato, MSc Valentina Vincoli, MSc

Publications

Selected Publications

1. Apostoli A,  Bianchi V,  Bono N,  Dimasi A,  Ammann KR,  Moiia YR,  Montisci A,  Sheriff J,  Bluestein D,  Fiore GB,  Pappalardo F,  Candiani G,  Redaelli A,  Slepian MJ,  Consolo F. Prothrombotic activity of cytokine-activated endothelial cells and shear-activated platelets in the setting of ventricular assist device support. The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation 2019, doi: 10.1016/j.healun.2019.02.009.

2. Selmi M, Chiu WC, Chivukula VK, Melisurgo G, Beckman JA, Mahr C, Aliseda A, Votta E, Redaelli A, Slepian MJ, Bluestein D, Pappalardo F, Consolo F. Blood damage in Left Ventricular Assist Devices: Pump thrombosis or system thrombosis? International Journal of Artificial Organs 2018, Oct 24:391398818806162, doi: 10.1177/0391398818806162.

3. Consolo F, Sferrazza G, Motolone G, Pieri M, De Bonis M, Zangrillo A, Redaelli A, Slepian MJ, Pappalardo F. Shear-mediated platelet activation enhances thrombotic complications in patients with LVAD and is reversed after heart transplantation. ASAIO Journal 2018, Jun 25, doi: 10.1097/MAT.0000000000000842.

4. Consolo F,  Sferrazza G,  Motolone G,  Contri R,  Valerio L,  Lembo R,  Pozzi L,  Della Valle P,  De Bonis M,  Zangrillo A,  Fiore GB,  Redaelli A,  Slepian MJ,  Pappalardo F.  Platelet activation is a preoperative risk factor for the development of thromboembolic complications in patients with continuous-flow left ventricular assist device. European Journal of Heart Failure 2018, 20:792-800.

5. Dimasi A, Roka-Moiia Y, Consolo F, Rasponi M, Fiore GB, Slepian MJ, Redaelli A. Microfluidic flow-based platforms for induction and analysis of dynamic shear-mediated platelet activation-Initial validation versus the standardized hemodynamic shearing device. Biomicrofluidics 2018, 12:042208.

6. Consolo F, Sheriff J, Gorla S, Magri N, Bluestein D, Pappalardo F, Slepian MJ, Fiore GB, Redaelli A. High frequency components of hemodynamic shear stress profiles are a major determinant of shear-mediated platelet activation in therapeutic blood recirculating devices. Scientific Reports 2017, 7:4994.

7. Dimasi A, Rasponi M, Consolo F, Fiore GB, Bluestein D, Slepian MJ, Redaelli A. Microfluidic platforms for the evaluation of anti-platelet agent efficacy under hyper-shear conditions associated with ventricular assist devices. Medical Engineering and Physics 2017, 48:31-38.

8. Consolo F, Dimasi A, Rasponi M, Valerio L, Pappalardo F, Bluestein D, Slepian MJ, Fiore GB, Redaelli A. Microfluidic approaches for the assessment of blood cell trauma: a focus on thrombotic risk in mechanical circulatory support devices. International Journal of Artificial Organs 2016, 39:184-193.

9. Consolo F, Valerio L, Brizzola S, Rota P, Marazzato G, Vincoli V, Reggiani S, Redaelli A, Fiore G. On the use of the platelet activity state assay for the in vitro quantification of platelet activation in blood recirculating devices for extracorporeal circulation. Artificial Organs 2016, 40(10):971-980.

10. Dimasi A, Rasponi M, Sheriff J, Chiu WC, Bluestein D, Tran PL, Slepian MJ, Redaelli A. Microfluidic emulation of mechanical circulatory support device shear-mediated platelet activation. Biomedical Microdevices 2015, 17:117.

      

Prizes and Honors

........ coming soon! 

Collaborations

Collaborations

	University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center Collaborations on: Point-of-care devices for platelet function testing Contacts | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
	Stony Brook University Biofluids Research Group Collaborations on: Thrombogenicity of blood recirculating devices Contacts | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
	Pennsylvania State University Artificial Heart and Cardiovascular Fluid Dynamics Lab Collaborations on: In vitro and in silico modelling of device-induced thrombosis Contacts | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
	Nanyang Technological University MicroBioengineering and microfluidics Research Group Collaborations on: Microfluidic cell-sorting devices Contacts | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
	Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele Anesthesia and Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Collaborations on: In vitro thrombogenicity testing Contacts | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Equipment and available technologies

Equipment and Available Technologies

Laboratory facilities include equipment and reagents for gel-filtered platelet separation and prothrombinase assay studies:

• laboratory water-bath
• benchtop centrifuge
• four gel-chromatography columns
• two peristaltic pumps
• two syringe pumps
• Hamilton PSD/8 precision syringe pump
• pH-meter
• optical refractometer
• thermocouple probes
• Coulter Z2 particle counter
• microprobe sonicator
• multi-well microreader spectrophotometer
• Hemodynamic Shearing Device (HSD) with stepper motor and controller (as part of the Device Thrombogenicity Emulator setup)

Funding

Th-Lab is grateful to the following funders and partners that have supported our research:

Cariplo Bank Foundation

“Platelet activation in a Lab on Chip device (PlatLoC)” (2016-2017)

“Evaluation of the thrombogenic risk: development of new approaches for the prediction of platelet activation and its minimization in artificial organs and prostheses (FluTE)” (2011-2015)

Open positions

........ coming soon!