The TOMALab group has a long-standing experience in X-ray optics and X-ray imaging.
Our research it is mainly focused on the progress and translation of modern x-ray physics concepts to biomedical sciences and, recently, to cultural heritage, exploiting the long-standing experience in X-ray optics and X-ray imaging. Our Labis a computer lab.anditincludes server and medical monitors for X-ray phase contrast tomographic reconstruction with friendly software for non expert users, and dedicated software for the different applications. 3D rendering software is available and post-processing software for quantitative analysis has been developed.
Several aspects of bioengineering have been explored through years. In particular, one of the focuses of the TOMALab group is the mechanism of mineralized matrix deposition in a tissue engineering approach, in which bone tissue is formed when porous ceramic constructs are loaded with bone marrow stromal cells and implanted in vivo. At the TOMALab a multi-scale approach has been developed based on different complementary X-ray experimental techniques coupled to new analytical tools which allowed to obtain structural and morphological information of engineered tissues, from the atomic to the micrometer scale.
In recent years, the team is exploiting its competences to settle biomedical imaging for investigations of the central nervous system and neurodegenerative diseases.