Biography

Dr Davide Piaggio was born in Imperia Link opens in a new window(Liguria, Italy), where he attended Liceo Classico E. De Amicis (2006-2011). He then received his BSc and MSc in Biomedical engineering at the University of GenoaLink opens in a new window (2014) and at the Polytechnic University of TurinLink opens in a new window (2017), respectively. Davide received his PhD in Biomedical Engineering with a specific focus on medical devices, regulations and low-resource settings from the University of Warwick (2022), where he is currently Assistant Professor and co-director of the Applied Biomedical Signal Processing and Intelligent eHealth Lab (ABSPIELink opens in a new window) since 2022. Since the start of his PhD he has been involved in several teaching and research related jobs, including graduate teaching assistant, research assistant, teaching fellow, and research fellow.

His main areas of expertise are medical device design and regulatory affairs, CAD design, 3D printing, signal processing and App design (Android). He has authored or co-authored about 30 journal/conference papers and book chapters. He also contributed with writing the definitions of 10 lemmas for the Encyclopaedia of Medical PhysicsLink opens in a new window (ISBN 9781138592148).

Davide is IFMBE HTADLink opens in a new window and IFMBE Africa Biomedical Engineering Working Group collaborator and IFMBE publicity committee member, academic co-lead for the Society&Culture SpotlightLink opens in a new window, steering committee member for WICIDLink opens in a new window, and executive team member for the Biomedical Engineering InstituteLink opens in a new window.

Research Interests

"et extra processit longe flammantia moenia mundi atque omne immensum peragravit mente animoque" - De Rerum Natura, Lucretius

"and forward thus he fared afar, beyond the flaming ramparts of the world, until he wandered the unmeasurable All"

• Medical device design and medical location assessment
  • Frugal engineering
  • Clinical engineering
  • Medical device design for low-resource settings (LRSs)
  • Rugged design – military standards
  • User-driven and contextualised design
  • mHealth
  • 3D printing
  • CAD modelling
  • Delphi study and Multicriteria decision analysis
  • Validation and Benchmarking
  • Designs related to: Pupillometry, Postpartum haemorrhage, Neonatal Jaundice, Diabetic Neuropathies, O2 concentrator filters, etc.
• Sustainability of the medical device industry
• Standards and regulations for medical devices
  • Universality of the international standards and norms relating to medical devices and locations
• COVID-19
  • PPE and medical devices for COVID-19
  • Preparedness, governance, and perspectives on COVID-19 in low-resource settings (Benin)
  • IPC practices and devices
  • Social perception of on vaccines in low-resource settings
• Management of eHealth innovation across EU
  • Large Scale Pilot management (GatekeeperLink opens in a new window)
• Synergies between Ethics and Biomedical Engineering
  
  • Infodemic
  • AI and the relative ethical concerns
  • Preparedness and governance for health threats
  • Innovating Engineering Education

Teaching Interests

"Mutuo ista fiunt, et homines dum docent discunt" - "The process is mutual, for men learn while they teach" - Moral letters to Lucilius, Letter 7, Seneca the Younger

Currently, Davide is module leader for ES3F0 and ES97F, i.e., Medical device: design, maintenance and assessment.

In his teaching he constantly tries to follow the Four Quadrant modelLink opens in a new window, combining a good balance of Research-Tutored, Research-Led, Research-Based and Research-Oriented.

Student's engagement, satisfaction, and performance are among his core targets.

Selected Publications (full and updated list on ScholarLink opens in a new window)

1. Piaggio D, Zarro M, Pagliara S, Andellini M, Almuhini A, Maccaro A, Pecchia L. The use of Smart Environments and Robots for Infection Prevention Control: a systematic literature review. American Journal of Infection Control. 2023 Mar 15.
2. Maccaro A, Piaggio D, Oronti IB, Vignigbé M, Gbokli A, Houngnihin R, Pecchia L. Social Engagement in the Fight Against COVID-19 in the Urban and Peri-Urban Areas of Cotonou (Benin, Sub-saharan Africa): Acceptability of the Vaccination and Tracking Program. Frontiers in Medicine. 2022;9.
3. Maccaro A, Piaggio D, Dodaro CA, Pecchia L. Biomedical engineering and ethics: reflections on medical devices and PPE during the first wave of COVID-19. BMC Medical Ethics. 2021 Dec;22(1):1-7.
4. Williams, E., Piaggio, D., Andellini, M., Pecchia, L. (2022) 3D-printed activated charcoal inlet filters for oxygen concentrators: a circular economy approach. Development Engineering 7 (2022) 100094. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.deveng.2022.100094
5. Piaggio D, Castaldo R, Cinelli M, Cinelli S, Maccaro A, Pecchia L. A framework for designing medical devices resilient to low-resource settings. Globalization and Health. 2021 Dec;17(1):1-3.
6. Piaggio D, Namm G, Melillo P, Simonelli F, Iadanza E, Pecchia L. Pupillometry via smartphone for low-resource settings. Biocybernetics and Biomedical Engineering. 2021 Jun 8.
7. Piaggio D, Andellini M, Taher M, Pecchia L. A vest for treating jaundice in low-resource settings. In2021 IEEE International Workshop on Metrology for Industry 4.0 & IoT (MetroInd4. 0&IoT) 2021 Jun 7 (pp. 122-127). IEEE.
8. Maccaro A, Piaggio D, Pagliara S, Pecchia L. The role of ethics in science: a systematic literature review from the first wave of COVID-19. Health and technology. 2021 Jun 3:1-9.
9. Jossou TR, Aziz ET, Medenou D, Bybi A, Fagbemi L, Sbihi M, Piaggio D. Methods to distinguish labour and pregnancy contractions: a systematic literature review. Health and Technology. 2021 May 13:1-3.
10. Jossou TR, Et-tahir A, Tahori Z, El Ouadi A, Medenou D, Bybi A, Fagbemi L, Sbihi M, Piaggio D. Electrodes in external electrohysterography: a systematic literature review. Biophysical Reviews. 2021 May 9:1-1.
11. Maccaro A, Piaggio D, Dodaro CA, Pecchia L. Mental illness in some Sub Saharan African communities: the perspective of Bioethics and transcultural nursing. Medicina e Morale. 2020 Dec 29;69(4):493-502.
12. Piaggio D, Taher M, Marinozzi F, Bini F, Pecchia L. A MATLAB App to Assess, Compare and Validate New Methods Against Their Benchmarks. InEuropean Medical and Biological Engineering Conference 2020 Nov 29 (pp. 10-21). Springer, Cham.
13. Pecchia L, Piaggio D, Maccaro A, Formisano C, Iadanza E. The Inadequacy of Regulatory Frameworks in Time of Crisis and in Low-Resource Settings: Personal Protective Equipment and COVID-19. Health and Technology. 2020 May 2:1.
14. Medenou D, Ahouandjinou MH, Piaggio D, Houessouvo RC, Pecchia L, Jossou TR. New intelligent network approach for monitoring physiological parameters: the case of Benin. Health and Technology.:1-2.
15. Pecchia L, Piaggio D. Evidence generation in medicine. InClinical Engineering Handbook 2020 Jan 1 (pp. 818-820). Academic Press.
16. Pecchia L, Piaggio D, Pallikarakis N, Iadanza E. Health technology assessment teaching for BME. InClinical Engineering Handbook 2020 Jan 1 (pp. 832-835). Academic Press.
17. Piaggio D, Bracale U, Pecchia L, Di Taranto MD, Sodo M, Bracale UM. Endovascular treatment versus medical therapy for hypertensive patients with renal artery stenosis: an updated systematic review. Annals of vascular surgery. 2019 Nov 1;61:445-54.
18. Piaggio D, Medenou D, Houessouvo RC, Pecchia L. Donation of medical devices in low-income countries: preliminary results from field studies. InInternational Conference on Medical and Biological Engineering 2019 May 16 (pp. 423-427). Springer, Cham.
19. Medenou D, Fagbemi LA, Houessouvo RC, Jossou TR, Ahouandjinou MH, Piaggio D, Kinnouezan CD, Monteiro GA, Idrissou MA, Iadanza E, Pecchia L. Medical devices in sub-Saharan Africa: optimal assistance via a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) in Benin. Health and Technology. 2019 May 19;9(3):219-32.
20. Bracale U, Melillo P, Piaggio D, Pecchia L, Cuccurullo D, Milone M, De Palma GD, Cavallaro G, Campanelli G, Merola G, Stabilini C. Is Shouldice the best NON-MESH inguinal hernia repair technique? A systematic review and network metanalysis of randomized controlled trials comparing Shouldice and Desarda. International Journal of Surgery. 2019 Feb 1;62:12-21.

Projects and Grants

AWARDS and SCHOLARSHIPS

• Erasmus grant (Final project abroad) (2016)
• 3-year PhD scholarship at the U. of Warwick (2018)
• Bronze award at the student design competition for low-resource settings (IUPESM WC2018)
• Second runner up in the ABEC Design Competition (ABEC design school 2019)
• Best work in the category Global challenges, sustainable development (ICEHTMC 2019)
• Student paper competition award (ICEHTMC 2019)
• Health GRP Warwick, 2019

• Best work in the category Short Courses (ICEHTMC2021)

• Shortlisted to take part to the 4^th World Laureate Forum (2021)

• Nominated and Shortlisted for Warwick Award for Teaching Excellence (2023)

Conferences and Invited Lectures

Conferences

• IUPESM WC2018 (Oral presentation), Prague (2018)
• First International Conference on Collaborative Biomedical Engineering for Open Source Medical Technologies (Oral presentation), Pisa (2018)
• IV WHO global forum on medical devices (Oral presentation and poster), Visakhapatnam (2018)
• CMBEBIH2019 (Oral presentation), Banja Luka (2019)
• ICEHTMC2019 (Oral presentation and poster presentation), Rome (2019)
• Webinar at the “International webinar on Post COVID healthcare: biomed engineers’ role in protecting India” (Oral presentation), Chennai (2020)
• WICID Webinar Series (Oral presentation), Coventry (2021)
• IEEE metroind4.0&IOT (Oral presentation), Rome (2021)
• IFMBE webinar series (2021)
• World Laureates Forum (ePoster), Shangai (October 2021)
• ICEHTMC2021 (Oral presentation), Orlando (October 2021)
• Series of Lectures, part of the MEET (Medicine Enhanced by Engineering Technology) programme for medicine students, University of Pavia (2021-22)
• Digital around the world conference (Online, 2022)
• IUPESM World Congress (Singapore, 2022)
• Track chair for ICTS4eHealth – Rhodes – 2022
• Track chair for MEDICON23 – Sarajevo - 2023

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Invited Lectures

• Lecture for the course of context sensitive design of medical devices of the MSc in Biomedical Engineering, University of Bologna (2021)
• Lecture for Clinical engineering postgraduate master, University of Pavia (2021)
• Lecture on frugal engineering (MSc in Biomedical Engineering, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, 2022) (2h)
• Seminar and Lab on mHealth (Summer School of Biomedical Engineering, Brixen, 2022) (2h)
• Series of lectures on medical device regulatory affairs and risk management (Master, University of Florence, 2022) (12h)
• Seminar on frugal engineering at the Pre-university summer school (King’s College London, 2022) (1h)
• Seminar on frugal engineering at the Pre-university summer school (King’s College London, 2023) (2h)
• Lecture on medical device design and regulations (MSc in Biomedical Engineering, University Campus Biomedico of Rome, 2023) (2h)