Bioengineering

The course equips students with an understanding of engineering approaches to advanced biomedical imaging. It strongly focuses understanding the physical processes that occur between a particular imaging modality and the biological material being investigated. This course introduces the physical concepts of advanced medical imaging via lectures focused on specific imaging modalities. Lectures cover various imaging techniques to provide an advanced understanding of the physics of the signal and its interaction with biological tissue; image formation or reconstruction; modality-specific issues for image quality; clinical applications; and biological effects and safety. This course uses state-of-the-art emerging imaging modalities in research and engineering approaches to advance such techniques to the clinic.  

This course gives an overview of contemporary approaches to tissue and cell engineering, including stem cells, cellular signaling, biomaterial scaffolds, use of bioreactors in tissue engineering, and controlled release strategies. Students explore ethical considerations related to clinical application of tissue and cell engineering technology. Topics include stem cells, embryogenesis, cellular signaling, extracellular matrix as a scaffold, degradable biomaterials for tissue engineering, cell-material interactions, scaffold design and fabrication, controlled drug release in tissue engineering, bioreactors in tissue engineering, production of mesenchymal stem cells, industrial tissue engineering manufacturing, cartilage tissue engineering, bone tissue engineering, cardiovascular tissue engineering, corneal tissue engineering and replacement, tissue engineering of the intervertebral disc (IVD). 

The course educates students in the area of medical device design. This is a broad course and its focus does not solely revolve around the engineering challenges associated with designing a medical device, lectures focus on many aspects: understanding clinical trial data, understanding the anatomical fundamentals associated with the device area, developing intellectual property strategies, regulation of medical devices, risk analysis, manufacturing techniques and requirements, reimbursement, and case studies of successful and unsuccessful medical device development.

This course explores materials used in tissue replacement including metallic, ceramic, and natural/synthetic polymeric materials. Implant applications and design considerations for these materials as well as the associated problems with long term survival are described so that the mechanical, chemical, and physiological interactions between in vivo host environment and the implanted biomaterial can be better understood. Integration of biomaterial structure and function are emphasized throughout the course. Advanced manufacturing and fabrication technologies to generate biomaterials with specialized structural and interfacial properties are introduced. Students obtain a detailed understanding of the composition and properties of the major classes of biomaterial used in medical devices. The required functionality for a range of synthetic implantable biomaterials and how this relates to material choice for specific applications are also covered. Associated failure modes are introduced through a series of real-life case studies. Sterilization techniques, regulatory aspects, and standards with relation to quality and safety are introduced.