SPRING 2009 BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING WEB

BME 4985 (295; Special Topics in Biomedical Engineering) and BME 4999 (299; Independent Study in Biomedical Engineering) are available. Please see an instructor in the program if you have an interest in one of these courses.

Course Descriptions

Course descriptions are provided here for only those courses with a temporary course number such as BME 4985-XX. Undergraduate and Graduate course descriptions are provided at the BME website under either the BS Degree Program Description or the Graduate Program Handbook.

BME 4985-001 Special Topics: Drug Delivery
This course includes two main issues: 1) physiological barriers and drug transport; 2) design and characterization of drug delivery systems. The first section of this course introduces the mechanisms of drug delivery at the levels of cell, tissue and whole body from the viewpoint of engineering. The second one describes the rational design of various drug delivery systems and emphasizes biomolecular nanomedicines. Case studies of cancer therapy and tissue engineering are described to illustrate the functions of drug delivery systems.

BME 4985-002 Special Topics: Computational Cell Biology for BMEs
In the last decade, interdisciplinary science has established itself as a leading area of scientific investigation. The use of physics and mathematics to help understand biological systems hints at being one of the major scientific frontiers of this coming century. This course looks at cellular biology from a physical and mathematical perspective and teaches the application of computational methods for solving cell biological problems. This course stresses the physical intuition of how to apply quantitative methods to the study of biology through the use of dimensional analysis,
analytic calculation and computer modeling. A prerequisite of introductory physics and calculus is recommended.

BME 4985-003 Special Topics: Computational Genomics
Basic probability theory and statistics; introduction to R; statistical modeling of biological sequences; EM and Gibbs sampling algorithms for DNA motif discovery; motif site scoring and p-values; Markov chains; profile HMMs for representing sequence families; models of DNA and protein evolution; likelihood methods in phylogenetics, bootstrapping; basic principles population genetics; genotype phasing and haplotype frequency estimation; computation of Mendelian likelihoods, Elston-Stewart and Lander-Green algorithms; case-control association tests. The topics may change according to progress.

BME 4985-004 Special Topics: Advanced Optical Microscopy and Bio-Imaging
This course will cover several aspects of state of the art biological and biophysical imaging. We will focus on advanced techniques including nonlinear optical processes (multi-photon excitation, second harmonic generation, and stimulated Raman processes), as well as optical coherence tomography. 3 lab projects will supplement the lectures, providing hands-on experience with nonlinear optical methods. Special emphasis will be given to current imaging literature and experimental design. Successful completion of “Current Topics in Optical Microscopy and Bio-imaging” is a prerequisite for this course or requires permission of the instructor.

BME 4985-005 Special Topics: Nano- and Bio-actuable Smart Materials
The class consists of evaluating non-invasive techniques or smart materials that can change in response to external stimuli or due to changes in state. For example, we will investigate how ultrasound can cause activation of proteins/release of molecules in bubbles OR how a magnetic field can cause movement of particles attached to proteins to start molecular pathways OR how to use bacteria to generate polymers or ceramics to induce repair of structures OR how to induce a change in polymer phase in response to cell applied stress that then modifies the cell. This course consists of an experimental component as well.

BME 4985-006 Special Topics: Advanced Soft Tissue Mechanics
Advanced Soft Tissue Mechanics offers special topics in nonlinear solid mechanics with applications in biological tissues. Most topics of the course will be based on two textbooks: 1) GA. Holzpafel’s “Nonlinear Solid Mechanics: A Continuum Approach for Engineering,” and 2) JD. Humphrey’s “Cardiovascular Solid Mechanics.” The course will cover the theoretical aspects of nonlinear solid mechanics including kinematics, stress, balance principles, objectivity and hyperelastic material models. These concepts will be reinforced with applications in cardiovascular mechanics, mainly focusing on vascular aspects that involve stress analysis of normal arterial wall, vascular functions and disorders. The modern techniques pertinent to mechanical testing, computational modeling and simulation of soft tissue behaviors will be addressed in the class. Students are expected to review literature and actively participate in classroom discussion. Pre-requisites: BME 3600W, ME 5105 or ME 5190.