{"id":12300,"date":"2026-09-07T20:24:38","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T23:24:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aniu.org.uy\/sin-categorizar\/franco-simini-ph-d-delivered-his-inaugural-lecture-as-a-full-professor-at-aniu\/"},"modified":"2026-09-08T18:23:07","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T21:23:07","slug":"franco-simini-ph-d-delivered-his-inaugural-lecture-as-a-full-professor-at-aniu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aniu.org.uy\/en\/news\/franco-simini-ph-d-delivered-his-inaugural-lecture-as-a-full-professor-at-aniu\/","title":{"rendered":"Franco Simini, Ph.D., delivered his inaugural lecture as a full professor at ANIU"},"content":{"rendered":"

On August 27<\/span>,<\/span>engineer Franco Simini <\/span>, a leading figure in biomedical engineering <\/span> in Uruguay, delivered his inaugural lecture upon his induction into the National Academy of Engineering of Uruguay (<\/span>ANIU) during a joint event with the National Academy of Medicine (<\/span>ANM).<\/span><\/p>\n

The conference, titled \u201cEngineering in the Doctor-Patient Relationship, Prevention, and Health Care,\u201c<\/span> took place at the ANM headquarters and covered some of the key milestones in Simini\u2019s professional and academic career, as well as the development of a model for interdisciplinary collaboration between engineering and medicine.<\/p>\n

A career shaped by biomedical engineering<\/h2>\n

Throughout his presentation, Simini looked back on a career that began in various fields of engineering and gradually shifted toward its applications in medicine.<\/p>\n

Among his early experiences in the field of health care were the development of equipment for recording evoked potentials, the detection of fetal heart rate and uterine contractions, the measurement of blood flow, and work in nuclear medicine.<\/p>\n

Later, while at the Latin American Center for Perinatology (CLAP) of PAHO\/WHO, he participated in the development of tools for the analysis of physiological signals and clinical information systems, including the Perinatal Information System, as well as initiatives focused on child and adolescent health.<\/p>\n

That journey solidified one of the central pillars of his work: using engineering to contribute to medicine<\/strong>, improve patient care, and, at the same time, generate knowledge and technological developments with the potential for transfer.<\/p>\n

Engineering and Medicine at the Hospital de Cl\u00ednicas<\/h2>\n

A central part of the conference was devoted to the work of the Biomedical Engineering Center<\/a> (NIB), which is composed of faculty from the University of the Republic\u2019s schools of medicine and engineering and is located at the Hospital de Cl\u00ednicas.<\/p>\n

Their working model is based on problems that arise in clinical practice. Doctors and engineers work together to identify and define a need, study existing solutions, and\u2014when these prove insufficient\u2014develop and test new prototypes in an interdisciplinary setting. <\/p>\n

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Over the years, this approach has led to numerous advancements in prevention, diagnosis, patient follow-up, rehabilitation, and intensive care.<\/p>\n

Among them are DIAPODAL, designed to predict conditions that can cause foot injuries in people with diabetes; NEFROVOL, intended to estimate the volume of polycystic kidneys using ultrasound; CANGURO and ChakaMo, which focus on motion and gait analysis; IMPETOM, for monitoring pulmonary fluid using electrical impedance tomography; and CENEPSIA, a line of research that studies the use of ultrasound in the treatment of refractory epilepsy.<\/p>\n

Simini also presented various developments in medical informatics<\/strong> aimed at improving patient follow-up and providing relevant information for clinical practice, with tools designed, among other objectives, to monitor heart failure, support perinatal care, and facilitate clinical teaching.<\/p>\n

Another notable example was DINABANG, a device developed in response to a clinical need to measure strength, speed, and power<\/strong> during rehabilitation and sports medicine. The project progressed from its academic development to technology transfer and commercialization in various countries. <\/p>\n

The Perspective of Clinical Teams<\/h2>\n

During the conference, a video was also presented that features testimonials from professionals in various specialties at the Hospital de Cl\u00ednicas about their experience working with the Biomedical Engineering Center.<\/p>\n

The case studies highlight applications of biomedical engineering in fields such as rehabilitation, diagnostic imaging, intensive care, obstetrics, and neurosurgery, and underscore the importance of doctors, physical therapists, and engineers working together to identify and solve specific problems.<\/p>\n

Based on the experiences gathered, the presence of engineering within the healthcare field itself<\/strong> makes it possible to identify needs, develop new tools, maintain and monitor medical equipment, and generate research and innovation projects based on situations that arise directly from clinical practice.<\/p>\n