Since the 90's, in the Telemedicine Department of the Institute of Clinical Physiology of the Italian National Research Council (IFC-CNR) a significant part of the activities in the field of Biotelemetry, Medical Electronics and Mathematical Models has been focused on the physiology and the clinical aspects related to endurance sports, such as F1 championships, Marathons, and Underwater and Hyperbaric Medicine. These activities triggered the implementation first of an interdisciplinary research group on Diving Medicine and later of an inter-institutional research group on Extreme Physiology: the "Ai Confini della Fisiologia" Team [ACFT], literally "At the Frontiers of Physiology".
In this line of research, a high level educational engagement was established in 2005: the Second level University Master in Underwater and Hyperbaric Medicine of the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna (SSSA), for postgraduate medical doctors, gathering the heritage of the "Scuola di Specialita in Medicina del Nuoto e dell'Attivita Subacquea" (specialization school on swimming and underwater medicine) of the Chieti University, Italy, which activity was concluded in 2003. The Master of the SSSA operates in strict cooperation with IFC-CNR in Pisa and, currently, is the only high level academic school in the hyperbaric and underwater field in Europe, recognised by DMAC/EDTC (Diving Medical Advisory Committee / European Diving Technology Committee) for professional diving, namely the "commercial diving".
Research experiences have been performed on breath hold divers, scuba divers and Ultra-triathlon subjects, also during official competition, mainly concerning the brain-heart axis investigation and the pulmonary efficiency and the decompression illness (DCI). A brief description of the developed devices, the main lines of research, and the related educational activity will be provided.
Dr. R. Bedini obtained his degree in Electronics Engineering in 1970 at the University of Pisa, Italy. From 1972 he was employed by SORIN Biomedica SpA (a FIAT group Company) and assigned to the Institute of Clinical Physiology in Pisa (IFC) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR), where he became CNR Researcher in 1982, and Senior Investigator in 2000. Dr. Bedini currently leads the LAD group of IFC (Medical Electronics and Telemedicine). Currently, he also leads an inter-institutional research group on extreme environment physiology, engaged since the 90's in investigations concerning biotelemetry in endurance sport and high risk professional activities, including professional, sport and recreational diving.
He was member of several E.U. projects (in '80s and '90s) like the SCP Standard Communication Protocol for Computerised ECG and participated to the Project Team 007 CEN/TC 251 for ECG transmission standards. He was also responsible of units in the Camarc and Briter E.U. Projects, in the field of movement analysis. He was involved in CARD7 CNR special project (Telemedicine in Cardiology) and was in charge of one of the two subprojects (Theme 5, 6) of the IMI/MURST (Italian Ministry of Research and University) in Automatic ECG and Telemedicine. In 1997-1999 he was in charge of the ISS (Istituto Superiore di Sanita) project for Multifunctional Telemonitoring of Elderly, and in 2001-2004 was chief investigator in the ERMETE Project "Telemedicine for Regions" for the Tuscany Region. In 2002-2006 he was responsible of the Project INTESA (Telematic integration for the continuity of the citizen healthcare process: the biggest project of the New Biomedicine research and funding line of the Italian Research and University Ministry) and, at the same time, he was responsible of a large project of the Industry Ministry about technological innovation oriented to assisted gas-therapy in hospital and home environments: EOLO (Controlled Oxygen and NO therapy). This last project produced two patents in the field of Oxygen and NO gas therapy. In the last years he organized the II level University Master in Underwater and Hyperbaric Medicine (certified by DMAC/EDTC) in cooperation with the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna of Pisa, Italy.
Dr. Bedini was member of CEN/CENELEC and UNI (the Italian Standardization Organization) for biomedical standards. He is senior member of the International Society on Biotelemetry. He is author of nine patents (Italy, USA and EU) and more than 170 scientific papers.
