Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering

This graduate level course focuses on technical communication related to the stylistic conventions of writing in science and engineering disciplines, with a focus on clarity, conciseness, and coherence as well as integration of relevant graphics. Students will employ process writing to produce genre specific writing familiar to their academic disciplines, including research-related documents designed for specific audiences. This course also trains students to deliver effective and appealing professional and scientific presentations, with attention to best practices in the use of technical English and oral communication.

The mathematical sub-discipline of differential equations is foundational in the study of applied mathematics for engineers. Differential equations arise in a variety of contexts, some more theoretical and some of practical interest. The qualitative and quantitative study of differential equations incorporates an elegant mixture of linear algebra and advanced calculus. For this reason, it is expected that the student has already completed courses in (i) linear algebra; (ii) multivariable calculus; and (iii) introductory differential equations.

The course will cover advanced topics of first order and second order ODEs like initial and boundary value problem and stability of solutions and phase portrait of them. A classification will be provided of the various existing types of methods for exploring solutions in connection with the various types of scientific and technological mathematical models that utilize them. The content of the course includes power series techniques as well as the Laplace transformation method for acquiring solutions of ODEs.

Furthermore, PDEs will be studied to model problems involving functions of several variables, and are either solved by hand, or used to create a relevant computer model. PDEs categories will be connected with a wide variety of interesting and important phenomena such as sound, heat, electrostatics, electrodynamics, fluid dynamics, elasticity, or quantum mechanics. All these seemingly distinct physical phenomena can be formalized similarly in terms of PDEs. The content of the course will cover techniques that refer to Elliptic, Parabolic Partial Differential Equations and Hyperbolic Partial Differential Equations as well as Initial and Boundary Conditions. The course will be delivered with lectures that will deliver the necessary theoretical background. However, all the lectures and the tutorials will encapsulate many examples with a software capable to perform symbolical calculations in order to capture the interest and motivate engineers.

The course “Biomaterials Science & Engineering” will present an overview of synthetic and natural materials, which are currently used in different areas of biomedical engineering. Structure and function of these materials will be discussed. Special emphasis will be laid on polymeric biomaterials such as poly-olefins, poly-urethanes, biodegradable poly-esters and poly-peptides, and crosslinked hydrogel systems. Polymer biomaterials are nowadays encountered in almost all medical subdisciplines such as dentistry, orthopedic surgery, vascular surgery, gynecology, oncology and ophthalmology. Specific examples in these fields will be highlighted. The use of metals in biomedical applications (e.g., titanium and shape-memory alloys) will also be discussed. Furthermore, the concept of “biocompatibility” will be covered with regard to in-vitro and in-vivo applications of biomaterials.

Biosensors are analytical devices that measure biological parameters in contact with tissues, and are becoming a leading technology in biosciences. The Biosensors course will provide an interdisciplinary view of biosensors, focusing on the technological aspects, as well as on implementation and applications, with elements of electronics, photonics, surface chemistry, and biology. The course will first introduce the main optical technologies at the base of current biosensors, mainly electronic methods (transistors, lab-on-chip, electrochemical impedence) and optical methods (surface plasmon resonance, spectroscopy, fiber optics). In the second part, the course will focus on the functionalization methods, which allow transducing the biological response through bioreceptors. Finally, the applications of biosensors in medicine, diagnostic, and early-stage biorecognition will be discussed. Some laboratories will be conducted to introduce students to practical concepts of biosensors.

This course intends to give students the opportunity to develop their Master Thesis research proposal and to develop a thorough literature review on their research topic in Biomedical Engineering. Student will prepare a research proposal (assessed by Lead Supervisor) and present research progress report with her/his intended topic of research in front of panel of faculty (Supervisors and extra faculty).

This course is designed to cover the basics of human anatomy and physiology including anatomical terminology, cells and tissues, body parts, the musculoskeletal system, the nervous system, special senses, the cardiovascular system, ECG, the respiratory system, and urinary system. The course provides a foundation in human anatomy appropriate for biomedical engineering professionals. Learning objectives will be achieved through a combination of lecture and practical approaches, reinforced by clinical examples and analysis of how biomedical devices interface with anatomical structures. Students will participate in small group discussions of clinical case studies, deliver group presentations on the topic of each respective week, and prepare an individual presentation on a topic of their choice selected from a list provided by the instructor.

This course addresses the primary need for graduate students to undertake formal training that will help them in understanding how to conduct their research. The course will develop students’ understanding of research planning and engender skills enhancement for reading, interpreting, writing about and presenting key ideas. The course will also instill an understanding of a variety of research methods and ethics, as well as implementation of appropriate strategies in lecture and workshop settings.

This course enables students to gain and apply basic research knowledge and skills to select their research projects in Biomedical Engineering. This course will provide to students a series of presentations intended to broaden their understanding of Biomedical Engineering and to provide them with opportunities to interact with scientists and engineers in the field. Presentations will also be given relating to the development of the studentsʼ academic and professional careers.

This course is designed to cover the most recent advancements in different areas of applications of tissue engineering. The topics in this course will include tissue engineering strategies such as i) compositional, structural and functional analysis of different tissues in human body, ii) design, fabrication and utilization of scaffold biomaterials and iii) cellular engineering including cell therapy, drug delivery; as well as cell-biomaterial interactions. Recent advances and major problems relevant to tissue engineering will also be presented and discussed. Instructor will present relevant topics in the class and guide students when needed. The students should appear in the class as they will be presenting/discussing topics with their classmates. Each student will choose an area of application and advance her/his knowledge in the particular area of tissue engineering. More specifically, the topics in this course will include Research methodology, Recent Progress in Tissue Engineering, Biomaterials, Scaffold design and Manufacturing, Controlled Release, Bone Tissue Engineering, Cartilage Tissue Engineering, Tendon/Ligament Tissue Engineering, Dental Tissue Engineering, Skin Tissue Engineering, Cartilage-bone interface regeneration, Tendon-bone interface regeneration, Tissue Engineering Products in the Market.

This course intends to give students the opportunity to fully implement the research proposal and bring it to a conclusion. The course develops the knowledge and skills about planning and conducting independent research at an advanced level, critically analyzing research results, effectively presenting results to a wide audience, and effectively compiling the results in the form of an authoritative thesis.

The course will discuss the most important contemporary strategies and methods for controlled topical delivery of drugs in clinical practice. The course will focus on the use of advanced devices and biomaterials to achieve the aim of supplying drugs in adequate quantities to target tissues, during an extended time interval. Examples will be abstracted from oncology (e.g., local delivery of cytostatic and/or angiogenic agents to solid tumors), ophthalmology (e.g., delivery of drugs to anterior and posterior parts of the eye), pulmonary drug delivery, etc. Methods to achieve long-duration contraception will be discussed as well. Evidently, emphasis will be put on technical/engineering aspects, such as the use micropump technologies, use of synthetic hydrogel biomaterials in systems for controlled local drug delivery, use of drug-releasing micro- and nanoparticles, transdermal drug delivery, nasal/pulmonary drug delivery, and drug delivery from implanted devices, such as endovascular stents, subcutaneous contraceptive devices, and injected microparticles carrying and locally releasing antineoplastic cytostatic drugs.

Master students will be expected to study, in depth, 5-6 recent scientific papers in the field of controlled drug delivery and to present the content of these works in a mini-seminar.

The course will discuss contemporary medical devices, including innovation and advanced technologies for healthcare, challenges and future opportunities. The focus of the course is on design and fundamental technologies from both the medical and engineering perspectives. The course will present an introduction of medical devices (electrical and mechanical devices) and procedures including. The topics include understanding the needs for specific medical devices, physiology, risks and benefits of medical device design and ethical issues. Examples will be abstracted from sensors, pacemakers, heart valves, implantable cardio devices, mechanical ventilators etc. This course will also cover biocompatibility testing and accelerated age testing of the devices.

The course will consist of lectures, case studies and class discussion. There will be a brief oral presentation complete with PowerPoint® slides to the class.

This course is designed to cover the basics and applications of biomechanics principals (i.e. kinematic, dynamic, static). The topics in this course will include skeletal muscle system, biomechanics of lower and upper extremity bones, spine biomechanics as well as cell biomechanics. More specifically, the students are expected to learn about biomechanics of tissues including bone, articular cartilage, tendons and ligaments, skeletal muscle, knee, hip, foot and ankle, shoulder, elbow, wrist and hand, fracture fixation, and gait. Recent advances and major problems relevant to cell/tissue/organ biomechanics will also be presented and discussed.

This course offers an introduction to the interactions between light and biological materials, and their implications in the biomedical field. It harbors the potential for earlier disease detection and novel light-guided and light-activated theranostic modalities. Additionally, biophotonics opens numerous avenues for biomedical engineers in healthcare and research. Designed with the intent to aid graduate students in staying abreast with current and historical literature in Biophotonics and Bioimaging research and related areas, the course provides basic information on photophysics and biophotonics during lectures. The instructor will supplement the theoretical content with case studies from the existing literature, following which, students will explore and present recent advancements in the field, reflecting their grasp of biophotonics. Case studies facilitated by both the instructor and students themselves will enhance comprehension of biophotonics and research methodologies. Upon completing this course, students will be well-versed in biophotonic materials, inclusive of those used in optical bioimaging, phototherapy, optogenetics, and neurophotonics, and will also acquire the skill to design and demonstrate novel biophotonic materials.

This course will introduce the physical principles of in vivo bioimaging modalities including X-ray computed tomography (CT), Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), positron emission tomography (PET), clinical applications of nuclear medicine, ultrasonic imaging (US), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This course will provide how existing physical principles transduced into bioimaging and correlated to an important event in life sciences, illustrating the contributions physics can make to life sciences. For the better understanding of the principles and applications, in the lectures, practical demonstrations will be presented to illustrate the corresponding imaging modality, its usage, promise and limitations, and biological safety will be discussed. Considering the contribution of material engineering in this particular research field, bioimaging contrast agents improving imaging quality in a specific in vivo environment will be introduced. The student will develop a good understanding of the mechanisms working on generating tissue contrast of the bioimaging modalities covered in this course, including the fundamental of the transducer and how they define the range of possible biomedical applications, and potential requirements of contrast agents. Based on this course, the student can get knowledge about imaging modalities, the way how to decide which modality is adequate for specific life science needs and a basic understanding of design principle of contrast agent.

The course will discuss the most important contemporary strategies and methods for controlled topical delivery of drugs in clinical practice. The course will focus on the use of advanced devices and biomaterials to achieve the aim of supplying drugs in adequate quantities to target tissues, during an extended time interval. Examples will be abstracted from oncology (e.g., local delivery of cytostatic and/or angiogenic agents to solid tumors), ophthalmology (e.g., delivery of drugs to anterior and posterior parts of the eye), pulmonary drug delivery, etc. Methods to achieve long-duration contraception will be discussed as well. Evidently, emphasis will be put on technical/engineering aspects, such as the use micropump technologies, use of synthetic hydrogel biomaterials in systems for controlled local drug delivery, use of drug-releasing micro- and nanoparticles, transdermal drug delivery, nasal/pulmonary drug delivery, and drug delivery from implanted devices, such as endovascular stents, subcutaneous contraceptive devices, and injected microparticles carrying and locally releasing antineoplastic cytostatic drugs.

Master students will be expected to study, in depth, 5-6 recent scientific papers in the field of controlled drug delivery and to present the content of these works in a mini-seminar.

This course will introduce the physical principles of in vivo bioimaging modalities including X-ray computed tomography (CT), Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), positron emission tomography (PET), clinical applications of nuclear medicine, ultrasonic imaging (US), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This course will provide how existing physical principles transduced into bioimaging and correlated to an important event in life sciences, illustrating the contributions physics can make to life sciences. For the better understanding of the principles and applications, in the lectures, practical demonstrations will be presented to illustrate the corresponding imaging modality, its usage, promise and limitations, and biological safety will be discussed. Considering the contribution of material engineering in this particular research field, bioimaging contrast agents improving imaging quality in a specific in vivo environment will be introduced. The student will develop a good understanding of the mechanisms working on generating tissue contrast of the bioimaging modalities covered in this course, including the fundamental of the transducer and how they define the range of possible biomedical applications, and potential requirements of contrast agents. Based on this course, the student can get knowledge about imaging modalities, the way how to decide which modality is adequate for specific life science needs and a basic understanding of design principle of contrast agent.