Piero Tortoli, IEEE Fellow since 2019, professor of Electronics, and founder of the Microelectronics Systems Design Laboratory (MSDLab) at the University of Florence, is widely regarded as a leading authority in the field of medical ultrasound technology. His pioneering research has focused since the ‘80s on the development of new methods and systems for ultrasound imaging and blood flow measurements.

Piero has introduced and validated innovative solutions to classic Doppler ultrasound challenges, such as aliasing, transverse beam-to-flow orientation, and angle ambiguity. His ultrasound imaging contributions range from the design of 2D sparse arrays to the validation of multi-line transmission techniques for enhanced cardiac investigation, and to the advancement of vascular studies through flow-mediated vasodilation. He has also driven progress in real-Ɵme, high-frame-rate imaging, as well as in coded and super-resolution methods. Piero’s laboratory introduced the first portable “open” ultrasound scanner, the ULA-OP, making it available to the international scientific community. The latest generation of this system, equipped with state-of-the-art electronics, can produce thousands of ultrasound images per second and generate detailed vector Doppler maps of blood flow in real time.