Ivan Furfaro | EPFL Graph Search

Ivan Furfaro received his Master Degree in Biomedical Engineering in Italy at Politecnico di Torino, in 2015. He did his Master Thesis in Switzerland at EPFL in collaboration with the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), by validating and implementing a new technique to decrease power consumption and size for EMG acquisition systems. In 2016 he started working in the Translational Neural Engineering Lab - EPFL as scientific assistant to design and develop sensorized wearable system for rehabilitation purposes. In the same year he started approaching the world of entrepreneurship, by developing innovative ideas in different fields, which led him to win different prizes, as the international EUROBIKE award in 2018 with his startup, Spearoad. He continued to follow his interest and passion for interdisciplinary research and for biomedical applications, and he currently works as biomedical engineer in the Soft BioElectronic Interface Lab - EPFL, where he takes care of the electro-mechanical assessments and validation for new stretchable materials and applications developed in the lab.

Bioinspired Liquid Metal Based Sensing System For Compliance Detection

Haotian Chen, Ivan Furfaro, Stéphanie Lacour

In this paper, we report a fully stretchable liquid metal based sensor system for compliance detection. The system is composed of a strain sensor layer, a gap layer with a hole in the center and a pressure sensor layer from top to bottom. Inspired from the human tactile system, the pressure sensor and strain sensor work collaboratively to detect the force and deformation simultaneously, from which the compliance of the contact material can be derived.

IEEE2021

Microscale Liquid Metal Conductors for Stretchable and Transparent Electronics

Haotian Chen, Laurent Mirko Dejace, Ivan Furfaro, Stéphanie Lacour, Giuseppe Schiavone

Integrated wearable electronics capable of transducing and transmitting biophysical information on complex and dynamic systems are attracting high interest across the consumer electronics, clinical, and research domains. Gallium and gallium-based liquid metals (LMs) emerge as promising conductor technology for wearables due to their excellent combination of electrical conductivity and mechanical compliance. However, LMs feature complex physical and chemical properties that pose significant manufacturability challenges. Herein, a microtechnology approach is presented to fabricate deformable, microscale LM conductors with high surface density and over large surface areas. Based on a combination of soft lithography, directional patterning, and thermal evaporation of gallium, this new technology enables a range of designs and geometries that can be used to form LM-based stretchable electronic conductors. The versatility of the technology enables a palette of circuit designs that can offer unrivaled transparency (T > 89%) or large metallization density (2/5 µm line/gap).

2021

Soft, Implantable Bioelectronic Interfaces for Translational Research

Beatrice Barra, Jocelyne Bloch, Simon Borgognon, Marco Capogrosso, Grégoire Courtine, Florian Dylan Fallegger, Ivan Furfaro, Sébastien Jiguet, Xiaoyang Kang, Stéphanie Lacour, Evgenia Vladimirova Roussinova, Andreas Rowald, Giuseppe Schiavone, Ismael Seanez Gonzalez, Nicolas Vachicouras

The convergence of materials science, electronics, and biology, namely bioelectronic interfaces, leads novel and precise communication with biological tissue, particularly with the nervous system. However, the translation of lab‐based innovation toward clinical use calls for further advances in materials, manufacturing and characterization paradigms, and design rules. Herein, a translational framework engineered to accelerate the deployment of microfabricated interfaces for translational research is proposed and applied to the soft neurotechnology called electronic dura mater, e‐dura. Anatomy, implant function, and surgical procedure guide the system design. A high‐yield, silicone‐on‐silicon wafer process is developed to ensure reproducible characteristics of the electrodes. A biomimetic multimodal platform that replicates surgical insertion in an anatomy‐based model applies physiological movement, emulates therapeutic use of the electrodes, and enables advanced validation and rapid optimization in vitro of the implants. Functionality of scaled e‐dura is confirmed in nonhuman primates, where epidural neuromodulation of the spinal cord activates selective groups of muscles in the upper limbs with unmet precision. Performance stability is controlled over 6 weeks in vivo. The synergistic steps of design, fabrication, and biomimetic in vitro validation and in vivo evaluation in translational animal models are of general applicability and answer needs in multiple bioelectronic designs and medical technologies.

2020