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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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 -
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 -
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 -
Measurement of T1ρ dispersion with compressed sensing and magnetization prepared radial balanced steady‐state free precession in spontaneous human osteoarthritis
Pala, S; Paajanen, A; Ristaniemi, A; Nippolainen, E; Afara, IO; Nykänen, O; Nissi, MJ. 2024. Magnetic resonance in medicine. 92: 2127-2139 -
Relationship between depth-wise refractive index and biomechanical properties of human articular cartilage
Khan, Bilour; Nippolainen, Ervin; Shahini, Fatemeh; Nonappa; Popov, Alexey; Töyräs, Juha; Afara, Isaac O. 2024. Journal of biomedical optics. 29: 1-12 -
Site-specific elastic and viscoelastic biomechanical properties of healthy and osteoarthritic human knee joint articular cartilage
Linus, Awuniji; Tanska, Petri; Nippolainen, Ervin; Tiitu, Virpi; Töyras, Juha; Korhonen, Rami K; Afara, Isaac O; Mononen, Mika E. 2024. Journal of biomechanics. 169: . 112135 -
Spatial analysis of the osteoarthritis microenvironment: techniques, insights, and applications
Fan, Xiwei; Sun, Antonia Rujia; Young, Reuben S E; Afara, Isaac O; Hamilton, Brett R; Ong, Louis Jun Ye; Crawford, Ross; Prasadam, Indira. 2024. Bone research. 12: -
3-D T1 relaxation time measurements in an equine model of subtle post-traumatic osteoarthritis using MB-SWIFT
Pala, Swetha; Hänninen, Nina E; Mohammadi, Ali; Ebrahimi, Mohammadhossein; te Moller, Nikae CR; Brommer, Harold; René van Weeren, P; Mäkelä, Janne TA; Korhonen, Rami K; Afara, Isaac O; Töyräs, Juha; Mikkonen, Santtu; Nissi, Mikko J; Nykänen, Olli. 2023. Journal of orthopaedic research. 41: 2657-2666 -
Broadband scattering properties of articular cartilage zones and their relationship with the heterogenous structure of articular cartilage extracellular matrix
Kafian-Attari, Iman; Nippolainen, Ervin; Bergmann, Florian; George, Akuroma; Paakkari, Petri; Mirhashemi, Arash; Foschum, Florian; Kienle, Alwin; Töyräs, Juha; Afara, Isaac O. 2023. Journal of biomedical optics. 28: -
Characterisation of Cartilage Damage via Fusing Mid-Infrared, Near-Infrared, and Raman Spectroscopic Data
Shaikh, Rubina; Tafintseva, Valeria; Nippolainen, Ervin; Virtanen, Vesa; Solheim, Johanne; Zimmermann, Boris; Saarakkala, Simo; Töyräs, Juha; Kohler, Achim; Afara, Isaac O. 2023. Journal of personalized medicine. 13: