Clinical Application of the Forced Oscillation Technique in the NICU
Featured Guest
Raffaele Dellacà has a master's degree in Information Technology Engineering from the Politecnico di Milano (1997) and obtained a PhD degree in Bioengineering in 2001 on the assessment of respiratory mechanics by optoelectronic plethysmography and forced oscillations. Since January 2005, he has been an assistant professor at the Department of Bioengineering of the Politecnico di Milano. His teaching activities are in the field of Biomedical technologies. Since 2005 he has been a Fellow of the European Respiratory Society. Dr. Dellacà's main research interests are in the area of respiratory physiology, in particular on respiratory mechanics, linear and non-linear modeling of respiratory system mechanical properties, development of new technologies for the analysis of respiration, mechanical ventilation, and anesthesia. He is responsible for collaborating on several research projects sponsored by public agencies, foundations, and companies. He is the author of 22 papers published in international peer-reviewed journals, 8 book chapters, and 7 patents.
Dr. Anna Lavizzari obtained her medical degree in General Medicine and Surgery in 2006 from the University of Florence. She has been board-certified in Pediatrics since 2012 (University of Milan). She completed her training in Pediatrics and Neonatology at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Cà Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico – University of Milan, under the direction of Professor Fabio Mosca. Since December 2014, Dr. Lavizzari has been working as an attending physician in the neonatal intensive care unit at Fondazione IRCCS Cà Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico – University of Milan. Her clinical research projects have focused on lung recruitment strategies at birth, neonatal non-invasive respiratory support, Forced Oscillation Technique for assessing respiratory mechanics, individualization of surfactant therapy, optimization of respiratory support, and lung function follow-up of former preterm infants. Dr. Lavizzari is a member of the Pulmonology Board of the Italian Society of Neonatology (SIN), a member of the Pulmonology section of the European Society for Paediatric Research (ESPR), and became chair of the NICU and PICU group of the European Respiratory Society (ERS) in 2022.
