Biomaterials

5 ECTS credits
150 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 1022201BNR for all students in the 1st semester at a (B) Bachelor - advanced level.

Semester

1st semester

Enrollment based on exam contract

Impossible

Grading method

Grading (scale from 0 to 20)

Can retake in second session

Yes

Enrollment Requirements

There are no specific enrollment requirements for students in the preporatory programme Biomedical engineering.

Taught in

English

Faculty

Faculty of Engineering

Department

Materials and Chemistry

Educational team

Hubert Rahier
Iris De Graeve (course titular)
Niko Van den Brande

Activities and contact hours

30 contact hours Lecture
30 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals

Course Content

The aim of this course is to introduce materials that are used in biomedical applications, i.e. destined to be used in or in contact with the human body. These can be biometals, biopolymers and bioceramics, and combinations. These biomaterials have quite different properties and requirements than the materials used in other fields of engineering due to the very specific environment of the human living body.

More specifically, the following topics will be adressed:

1. Properties of biological tissue: concepts of polymer synthesis, characterisation of polymers, surface modification, surface analysis, biomedical applications, scaffolds for tissue engineering

2. Bioceramics: chemical, physical and mechanical properties of ceramic materials. Properties, possibilities/limitations and use of calcium phosphates and cements, bioactive glass, aluminium oxide, zirconium oxide, pyrolytic carbon and composite ceramic materials. Traditional and new processing techniques. Correlation with in vitro and in vivo applications in medicine (regenerative medicine, tissue engineering, cancer therapy,…).

3. Biometals: types and properties of biometals including mechanical, corrosion, biocompatibility and other properties, relevance of the different alloys, applications, surface treatments and analysis of biometals.

Course material

Digital course material (Required) :

Additional info

The three lecturers will provide on the electronic learning platform Canvas the handouts of the course slides and suggest relevant scientific literature (journal papers, textbook).

Learning Outcomes

Leerresultaten

The students are learning about the relation between the properties of the biomaterials and their applications.
A basic overview of the composition, properties, design and sustainability of polymers, ceramics and metals used as biomaterials is given and the students also challenged to read and interpret scientific research papers and be able to discuss relevant data.

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Other Exam determines 100% of the final mark.

Within the Other Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

Examen with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 100% of the final mark.

Additional info regarding evaluation

The examination of the course theoretical part will be a written exam. The use of the course slides is not permitted.

The theoretical exam will count for 80 % of the total final score, with equal share of the three parts of the course, or in other words: the average of Biometals, Bioceramics and Biopolymers will count for 80 % of the total final score.

The evaluation of the practical part of the course will count for 20% of the total final score.

The practical part of the course contains (demo) lab sessions and the evaluation is based on a report made by the students.

In the preparation (considering the research questions) and for the report (journal paper format) of the project, the use of Generative AI (GAI) tools is allowed, as long as the "AI guidelines for students" are strictly followed. = "AI-richtlijnen voor studenten"

We can allow the use of GAI to find better formulations for the report, but its use MUST be reported in the report and the students must critically handle the information. We prefer to read original text from the students and not from GAI. In addition, there will be strict monitoring of incorrect use of scientific terms and spelling errors, for which the students and not GAI are responsible. For the interpretation of the results, the presentation of the data in graphs and text, the discussion of the results and conclusions that follow from the experimental results, GAI cannot be used. Consequently, the scores on these aspects will be dominant in the final score of the practical assignment.

Allowed unsatisfactory mark

The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context