About us

IHT

Our Story

The Intelligent Health Technology for Health and Wellbeing lab (IHT lab) supports the development of innovative health services that are sustainable, including from the environmental point of view, based on innovative enabling technologies (e.g., AI, big-data, IoT, robots). The main research areas of the lab cover:

Design

The design and evaluation of innovative health services for chronic disease management (e.g., telemedicine for continuity of care)

Organization

The reorganization and automation of health care services and organizations

Global Health

Bioengineering for global health

Frugal Innovation’

The design, management and evaluation of sustainable medical devices, including for low-income countries

Bioengineering

Technology platforms for services aimed at improving and managing quality of life and well-being

Artificial intelligence, IoT, analysis of biomedical signals and images

The members of the lab gained advanced expertise in the analysis, using artificial intelligence techniques (deep-learning and machine learning), of biomedical images and biomedical signals acquired through wearable sensors, under real-life conditions (i.e., not just controlled conditions). These skills are currently being applied to facilitate the solving of several complex problems, including:

diagnosis and prognosis of rare diseases (cardiac, ophthalmologic, and oncologic)

detection and management of mental stress

sleep and sleepiness monitoring

short-term prediction of critical events (e.g., falls in the elderly, hypoglycemic events)

early detection and prediction of patient flare-ups with a focus on congestive heart failure and hypertension

behavioral, cognitive, and affective monitoring and assessment

Global health and global sustainable goals

Lab members are proactively involved in research projects aimed at the full achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, with a particular focus on Goal #3 (Ensure health and well-being for all and all ages) in low-income countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. During the pandemic, Prof. Pecchia worked for the World Health Organization (WHO) as Innovation Manager for non-pharmacological technologies (AI, medical devices, PPE) for COVID-19 under the Blueprint program.
These skills, were applied in the following areas:

medical technology design for resource-limited areas

regulatory science of medical devices and medical premises

clinical engineering in low-income countries

Design, regulation, management and evaluation of AI-based medical devices

Laboratory members have extensive experience in the design and certification of medical devices and personal protective equipment. This experience, gained through collaborations with companies and regulatory bodies, is passed on to bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral students, and starts with the unique ability to be able to combine three fundamental elements:

A deep knowledge of regulatory science: including norms and standards (e.g., ISO 14971, IEC60601-1/ISO 14971, ISO/IEC 17020), European regulations for medical devices (EU 2017/746), in vitro diagnostic medical devices (EU 2017/745), and personal protective equipment (EU 2016/425)

Health Technology Management

Methods and tools of Health Technology Assessment (including EU Regulation 2021.2282) and health economics to the design itself (early-stage HTA, pre-market economic evaluations), in a logic of value-based healthcare