How future surgery will benefit from SARS-COV-2-related measures: a SPIGC survey conveying the perspective of Italian surgeons

COVID-19 negatively affected surgical activity, but the potential benefits resulting from adopted measures remain unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the change in surgical activity and potential benefit from COVID-19 measures in perspective of Italian surgeons on behalf of SPIGC. A nationwide online survey on surgical practice before, during, and after COVID-19 pandemic was conducted in March-April 2022 (NCT:05323851). Effects of COVID-19 hospital-related measures on surgical patients' management and personal professional development across surgical specialties were explored. Data on demographics, pre-operative/peri-operative/post-operative management, and professional development were collected. Outcomes were matched with the corresponding volume. Four hundred and seventy-three respondents were included in final analysis across 14 surgical specialties. Since SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, application of telematic consultations (4.1% vs. 21.6%; p < 0.0001) and diagnostic evaluations (16.4% vs. 42.2%; p < 0.0001) increased. Elective surgical activities significantly reduced and surgeons opted more frequently for conservative management with a possible indication for elective (26.3% vs. 35.7%; p < 0.0001) or urgent (20.4% vs. 38.5%; p < 0.0001) surgery. All new COVID-related measures are perceived to be maintained in the future. Surgeons' personal education online increased from 12.6% (pre-COVID) to 86.6% (post-COVID; p < 0.0001). Online educational activities are considered a beneficial effect from COVID pandemic (56.4%). COVID-19 had a great impact on surgical specialties, with significant reduction of operation volume. However, some forced changes turned out to be benefits. Isolation measures pushed the use of telemedicine and telemetric devices for outpatient practice and favored communication for educational purposes and surgeon-patient/family communication. From the Italian surgeons' perspective, COVID-related measures will continue to influence future surgical clinical practice

CMOS Detector and System Developments for LHC Detector Upgrades

The CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will undergo a major upgrade to increase its instantaneous luminosity, allowing precision measurements of known processes and the search of new physics. The renewed machine requires an upgrade of several subdetectors of its experiments, including silicon trackers. This work focuses on the design and integration of novel radiation-hard monolithic CMOS pixel sensors for new trackers, such as ATLAS ITk. Two sensors have been produced using a process modification of a 180 nm CMOS technology: a large scale prototype (MALTA) and a small scale prototype (MiniMALTA). The sensors implement fully depleted square pixels of 36 micrometers with a small collection electrode, a fast front-end, and a novel asynchronous architecture. Each of these factors contributes to an efficient and low-power design. The work includes the design of a low-power 5 Gb/s data driver and receiver integrated in both sensors. Finally, the integration of monolithic sensors in tracker systems has been addressed with studies on the design of a module prototype and the development of a CMOS compatible microfabrication technique to implement silicon-embedded microchannels cooling

Time resolution of a SiGe BiCMOS monolithic silicon pixel detector without internal gain layer with a femtosecond laser

Abstract The time resolution of the second monolithic silicon pixel prototype produced for the MONOLITH H2020 ERC Advanced project was studied using a femtosecond laser. The ASIC contains a matrix of hexagonal pixels with 100 μm pitch, readout by low-noise and very fast SiGe HBT frontend electronics. Silicon wafers with 50 μm thick epilayer with a resistivity of 350 Ωcm were used to produce a fully depleted sensor. At the highest frontend power density tested of 2.7 W/cm 2 , the time resolution with the femtosecond laser pulses was found to be 45 ps for signals generated by 1200 electrons, and 3 ps in the case of 11k electrons, which corresponds approximately to 0.4 and 3.5 times the most probable value of the charge generated by a minimum-ionizing particle. The results were compared with testbeam data taken with the same prototype to evaluate the time jitter produced by the fluctuations of the charge collection. </p

Monolithic pixel development in 180 nm CMOS for the outer pixel layers in the ATLAS experiment

The ATLAS experiment at CERN plans to upgrade its Inner Tracking System for the High-Luminosity LHC in 2026. After the ALPIDE monolithic sensor for the ALICE ITS was successfully implemented in a 180 nm CMOS Imaging Sensor technology, the process was modified to combine full sensor depletion with a low sensor capacitance (≈ 2.5fF), for increased radiation tolerance and low analog power consumption. Efficiency and charge collection time were measured with comparisons before and after irradiation. This paper summarises the measurements and the ATLAS-specific development towards full-reticle size CMOS sensors and modules in this modified technology.The ATLAS experiment at CERN plans to upgrade its Inner Tracking System for the High-Luminosity LHC in 2026. After the ALPIDE monolithic sensor for the ALICE ITS was successfully implemented in a 180 nm CMOS Imaging Sensor technology, the process was modified to combine full sensor depletion with a low sensor capacitance ($\approx$ 2.5fF), for increased radiation tolerance and low analog power consumption. Efficiency and charge collection time were measured with comparisons before and after irradiation. This paper summarises the measurements and the ATLAS-specific development towards full-reticle size CMOS sensors and modules in this modified technology