2010 Spring BME 265-03
Bulletin Course Description Advanced subjects related to programs within biomedical engineering tailored to fit the requirements of a small group. Consent of instructor required. Instructor: Staff
(Instructor named in bulletin description above may not be current. For current instructor, see listing below.)
Title BIOMEDICAL POLYMERS Department BME Course Number 2010 Spring 265 Section Number 03 Primary Instructor Leong,Kam W Prerequisites
Synopsis of course content
The course covers the applications of polymers in medicine, particularly drug delivery, gene delivery, and tissue engineering. Most recent advances in the field will be discussed. Students are assigned manuscripts to read for each lecture. Homework assignments take the format of a 1-3 page assay responding to an open-ended question to demonstrate the students’ critical understanding of the concepts covered in the class. Dr. Leong will meet with student individually half-way through the course to gauge the learning of the students and to receive feedback. He also meets with each student individually before the final project presentation. A term paper and a 30-minute PowerPoint presentation are required at the end of the semester. This is a course primarily intended for graduate students. Prerequisites: Polymer/materials science background.
Textbooks
Book chapters and manuscripts from the literature.
Assignments
Topics Covered:
Fundamentals of Polymer Science
· Polymer structure and properties
· Molecular weight, chemical structure and morphology
· Characterization of biomedical polymers
· Synthesis: radical and addition polymerization of different classes of polymers
Principles of Biomaterials
Biomaterials for Therapeutics Delivery
· Different drug delivery systems and mechanisms of controlled release
· Microencapsulation and formulations
· Design of cationic polymers for nonviral gene delivery
· Barriers of nonviral gene transfer
· In vivo applications of drug and gene delivery
Biomaterials for Regenerative Medicine
· Cell-materials interaction
· Cell source and tissue types
· Design of scaffolds: synthetic vs. natural polymers
· Fabrication of 3D macroporous scaffolds
· Surface modification of polymers
· Cell-substrate interactions
Examples of Tissue Engineering Applications
· Neural tissue engineering
· Liver tissue engineering
· Stem cell expansion
Additional Information
· Gain an appreciation of the application of polymers in medicine
· Understand the design criteria of polymeric biomaterials for different biomedical applications
· Learn to critique the literature in polymeric biomaterials
· Propose improvement on existing designs in homework assignments and term paper
· Learn to effectively present a research topic
