
Isaac O. Afara
Associate Professor
Department of Technical Physics, Faculty of Science, Forestry and Technology
[email protected] | +358 50 350 1905
I am an Associate Professor with more than a decade of experience in applied and translational spectroscopy. My research interests range from applied spectroscopy, through multivariate and machine learning analysis in biospectroscopy, to computational biophotonics, all with the aim of bench-to-bedside translational of spectroscopy-based innovation for state-of-the-art optical characterization and diagnosis of biological tissue pathologies.
I currently lead the Biomedical Spectroscopy Lab (BSL, est. 2018), a multi-disciplinary team of Physicists and Engineers focused on applied spectroscopy and computational biophotonics research.
Research groups
Publications
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Non-destructive assessment of tissue engineered cartilage maturity using visible and near infrared spectroscopy combined with machine learning
Elkadi, Omar Anwar; Abinzano, Florencia; Nippolainen, Ervin; González, Ona Bach; Töyräs, Juha; Levato, Riccardo; Malda, Jos; Afara, Isaac O. 2025. Biosensors and bioelectronics. 286: A1 Journal article (refereed), original research -
Orientation-Independent T2 Mapping Enhances MRI-Based Cartilage Characterization
Leskinen, Henri P P; Tuppurainen, Juuso; Jäntti, Jiri; Mäkelä, Janne T A; Nippolainen, Ervin; Afara, Isaac O; Töyräs, Juha; Nykänen, Olli; Nissi, Mikko J. 2025. Annals of biomedical engineering. [Epub ahead of print 17 June 2025]: 1-11 A1 Journal article (refereed), original research -
Relationships between human patellar tendon and tibial cartilage viscoelastic properties in osteoarthritic knees: an exploratory investigation
Kositsky, Adam; Linus, Awuniji; Stenroth, Lauri; Nippolainen, Ervin; Kröger, Heikki; Töyräs, Juha; Mäkelä, Janne TA; Liukkonen, Mimmi K; Tanska, Petri; Afara, Isaac O; Mononen, Mika E; Korhonen, Rami K. 2025. Journal of biomechanics. 189: A1 Journal article (refereed), original research -
The Relationship Between the Optical Properties of Articular Cartilage and the Biomechanical Parameters of the Tissue
Kafian‐Attari, Iman; Ebrahimi, Mohammad; Nippolainen, Ervin; Mirhashemi, Arash; Paakkari, Petri; Bergmann, Florian; Foschum, Florian; Kienle, Alwin; Töyräs, Juha; Afara, Isaac. 2025. Journal of biophotonics. 18: A1 Journal article (refereed), original research -
The human patellar tendon is mechanically homogenous at its mid-substance
Kositsky, Adam; Stenroth, Lauri; Nippolainen, Ervin; Torniainen, Jari; Mäkelä, Janne TA; Paakkari, Petri; Paakkonen, Tommi; Kröger, Heikki; Töyräs, Juha; Afara, Isaac O; Korhonen, Rami K. 2025. Journal of the mechanical behavior of biomedical materials. 163: A1 Journal article (refereed), original research -
A novel tape-free sample preparation method for human osteochondral cryosections for high throughput hyperspectral imaging
Fan, Xiwei; Donose, Bogdan; Jones, Michael WM; Howard, Daryl; Torniainen, Jari; Bertling, Karl; Guo, Xiao; Kewish, Cameron M; Lee, Kah Meng; Sun, Antonia Rujia; Rakic, Aleksandar; Crawford, Ross; Afara, Isaac O; Prasadam, Indira. 2024. Histochemistry and cell biology. 163: A1 Journal article (refereed), original research -
Comparison of site-specific tensile, compressive, and friction properties of human tibiofemoral joint cartilage and their relationship to degeneration
Ristaniemi, Aapo; Tuppurainen, Juuso; Jäntti, Jiri; Nippolainen, Ervin; Afara, Isaac O; Mononen, Mika E; Korhonen, Rami K; Mäkelä, Janne TA. 2024. Journal of biomechanics. 177: A1 Journal article (refereed), original research -
Estimation of Photon Path Length and Penetration Depth in Articular Cartilage Zonal Architecture over the Therapeutic Window
Kafian-Attari, I; Nippolainen, E; Bergmann, F; George, A; Paakkari, P; Mirhashemi, A; Foschum, F; Kienle, A; Toyras, J; Afara, IO. 2024. IEEE transactions on biomedical engineering. 71: 2300-2311 A1 Journal article (refereed), original research -
Infrared Spectroscopy Can Differentiate Between Cartilage Injury Models: Implication for Assessment of Cartilage Integrity
Shahini, Fatemeh; Oskouei, Soroush; Nippolainen, Ervin; Mohammadi, Ali; Sarin, Jaakko K; Moller, Nikae CR te; Brommer, Harold; Shaikh, Rubina; Korhonen, Rami K; van Weeren, P. René; Töyräs, Juha; Afara, Isaac O. 2024. Annals of biomedical engineering. 52: 2521-2533 A1 Journal article (refereed), original research -
Laser-irradiating infrared attenuated total reflection spectroscopy of articular cartilage: Potential and challenges for diagnosing osteoarthritis
Krebs, P; Nägele, M; Fomina, P; Virtanen, V; Nippolainen, E; Shaikh, R; Afara, I O; Töyräs, J; Usenov, I; Sakharova, T; Artyushenko, V; Tafintseva, V; Solheim, J H; Zimmermann, B; Kohler, A; König, O; Saarakkala, S; Mizaikoff, B. 2024. Osteoarthritis and cartilage open. 6: . 100466 A1 Journal article (refereed), original research