1. Introduction
History of biomaterials. Definition of biomaterials. Biocompatibility. Sterilization, prevention of infection. Classification of Biomaterials
2. Material properties
Mechanical properties: Young's modulus; Stress–strain curves of different types of materials. Dynamic fatigue failure. Viscoelasticity. Hardness. Thermal Properties.
3. Organic Chemistry
The Origins of Organic Chemistry. Principles of Atomic Structure. Bond Formation: The Octet Rule. Ionic and covalent Bonding. Electronegativity and Bond Polarity. Lewis Structures. Multiple Bonding. Resonance. Pi Bonding. Hybridization and geometry. Bond rotation. Structure and properties of Hydrocarbons: alkanes, alkenes, alkynes and aromatic hydrocarbons. Intermolecular Forces. Functional groups. Structure and properties of organic compounds: Halogenated compounds; Alcohols; Thiols; Ethers; Amines; Aldehydes; Ketones; Carboxylic acids. Brønsted–Lowry Acids and Bases. Condensation reaction of Acids with Alcohols: Esters. Condensation reaction of carboxylic acid and ammonia or an amine: Amides. Stereochemistry.
4. Polymers
Definition. Classification of polymers. Characteristics and properties of polymeric materials: Degree of Polymerization; Molecular Weight; Degree of Polydispersity; Reticulation degree; Glass transition temperature; Melting temperature. Condensation polymers: Polyamides; Polyesters; Polyurethanes. Disadvantages of condensation polymers. Addition Polymers: Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC); polymethacrylate (PMA); Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA); Hydrogels; Teflon (TFPE). Stereochemistry of polymers. The physical state of the polymers: Crystalline Polymers, Semi-Crystalline Polymers, Amorphous Polymers. Fibers. Elastomers: Natural Rubber, Synthetic rubbers, Silicones. Behavior of polymers as a function of temperature: thermoplastic polymers, thermosetting polymers. Thermoplastic polymers with high resistance: Polyacetals, Polysulfones, Polycarbonates.
5. Biodegradable polymers.
6. Tissue response to implants
Cellular Response to Implants: Ceramics, metals and polymers. Systemic Effects by Implants. Blood Compatibility.
7. Ceramic biomaterials
Physical Properties. Sintering. Use of ceramic materials. Bioinert ceramics: alumina, zirconia and pyrolytic carbon. Bioactive ceramics: hydroxyapatite (HA), bioglasses or glass-ceramics. bioresorbable ceramics: tricalcium phosphate (TCP).
8.Metallic biomaterials
Structure, Properties and Applications. Types and Composition of Stainless Steels. Cobalt-based alloys: CoCrMo and CoNiCrMo alloy. Ti and Ti-based alloys (Ti6Al4V). Shape–memory alloys: Ni–Ti alloy. Corrosion of metallic implants.
9. Hip prostheses
Characteristics of hip prostheses and biomaterials used. Cementless and Cemented hip prostheses. Stress-shielding. Bone cement.
10. Heart Valve Implants
The Functions of the Heart and natural Heart valves. Valvular heart disease. Mechanical valves: Caged ball valve, Monoleaflet mechanical valve, Bileaflet mechanical valve. Bioprosthetic valves: Porcine bioprosthetic valves, Pericardial bioprosthetic valves, Stentless Bioprostheses, Percutaneous Bioprostheses. Selecting the Optimal Prosthesis in the Individual Patient.
11. Vascular Prostheses
Arterial disease: stenosis and aneurysm. Ideal characteristics of a graft. Implants of biological origin and implants of synthetic origin. Materials used in synthetic Implants. Porosity/permeability and Compliance of synthetic vascular prostheses.
12. Ophthalmic implants
Contact lenses and intraocular lenses. General Properties of Materials of Relevance to Contact Lenses. Hard contact lenses. Soft contact lenses. Biomimetic lenses. Materials used for intraocular lenses.
13. Surface modification of biomaterials
Covalent coatings: Plasma treatment, Chemical vapor deposition (CVD), Physical vapor deposition
(PVD), Radiation grafting/photografting, Self-assembled monolayer (SAM), Chemical grafting,
Biological modification (biomolecule immobilization).
Noncovalent coatings: Solution coatings, Langmuir-Blodgett films, Surface-modifying additives.
Surface modification methods with no overcoat: Ion bean implantation, Plasma treatment,
Conversion coatings. Patterning.
14. FT-IR Spectroscopy
Working Principle of IR Spectroscopy. Instrumentation. FT-IR Techniques: Transmission, Internal
Reflection Spectroscopy -Attenuated Total Reflection (ATR), External Reflection Spectroscopy-
Specular Reflection. Interpretation of IR Spectra.
15. Electron Microscopy: SEM and TEM
Introduction to Microscopy. Resolution. Electron-Matter Interactions. Working Principle of
Scanning Electron Microscope SEM and characteristics. Working Principle of Transmission Electron
Microscopy TEM and characteristics.
16. XPS X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy
Working Principle of XPS X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy and applications.
17. Tissue engineering. Basic principles and applications of Tissue engineering.

"Biomaterials An introducion”
Joon Park and R.S. Lakes Third Edition (Springer)

“Biomaterials”
Véronique Migonney (Wiley)

Molecular and Cell Biophysics. Amino acids, protein structure, hemoglobin, myoglobin, enzymes, enzyme catalysis, enzyme activation, enzyme inhibition, carbohydrates, glycolysis, Krebs cycle, oxidative phosphorylation, lactate biosynthesis, alcoholic fermentation, lipids, beta-oxidation, amino acid and protein catabolism, urea cycle. The cell compartimentation, The energy of living organisms. Tissues organization. Membrane dynamic structure, functions and dynamics of cell plasma membranes. Junctions, channels, receptors. Permeability, diffusion, osmosys, tonicity. Plasma membrane transport systems: facilitate, primary and secondary active transport. Endocytosis-exocytosis. Ion transport.

Biophysics of Homeostatic Systems: central nervous system and autonomous nervous system. Electrical properties of the cell plasma membrane, genesis of the transplasma membrane potential, excitability, resting membrane potential, electrotonic and action potential. Propagation and transmission of electric signals. Synapses. Neuronal plasticity. Somatic and autonomous reflex arc. Sensory physiology. Hormones. Cell communication, general properties of the endocrine system, chemical structure and release of hormones. Hormone signal transduction.

MAIN TEXTBOOK: D.U. SILVERTHORN Human Physiology 2010 Pearson Education inc

BOOKS FOR DEEPENING KNOWLEDGE: (AVAILABLE IN THE SCIENTIFIC LIBRARY) HILL R, WYSE G, ANDERSON M FISIOLOGIA ANIMALE 2006 ZANICHELLI; RANDALL D. ET AL., FISIOLOGIA ANIMALE ZANICHELLI; CASELLA C. E TAGLIETTI V. PRINCIPI DI FISIOLOGIA ED. LA GOLIARDICA PAVESE; BERNE R.M. E LEVY M.N. PRINCIPI DI FISIOLOGIA CASA EDITRICE AMBROSIANA.

An appointment is required to meet the Professor.

Introduction to the Biomedical Engineering in general and to this course in particular. Acquisition of biomedical signals. Elements of electrophysiology. Electrodes for biopotentials. Sensors for physical measurements. Sensors and systems for kinematic measurements. Biological modeling: compartment models, black box models. Elements of descriptive and inferential statistics.

• BRONZINO - BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING HANDBOOK, TAYLOR AND FRANCIS GROUP

• ONLINE TUTORIALS ON moodle web platform

The course aims to prepare students to selected activities of an experimental laboratory, in which the typical methods of Biomedical Engineering are applied. During class lessons, the topics necessary to understand the activities required for the acquisition and management of biomedical signals will be illustrated, through experimental tools typical of Engineering with a specific focus on practical laboratory activities execution and particular reference to the following topics:

• The electronics equipment of an experimental Biomedical Engineering laboratory.
• Systems and sensor for the acquisitions and measure of biomedical data and signals: sensors for human movement analysis and for electrophysiological signals, signal conditioning and acquisition systems.
• Experimental protocols for the acquisition of data: from the sensor to the digitization and storage on a computer.
• The organization of the acquisition phase and of the experimental setup for biomedical data and signals.
• The virtual instrumentation for the management of the experimental data: fundamentals of Labview.
• Embedded systems for biomedical applications: basics of biomedical wearable devices design.
• Laboratory experience on selected devices typical of the Biomedical Engineering laboratory.

• BRONZINO - BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING HANDBOOK, TAYLOR AND FRANCIS GROUP

• ONLINE TUTORIALS ON moodle2 web platform

Discrete signals and systems. Operations between sequences. Scale changes. Digital transforms. Filtering. Linear system analysis. Optimum filters. Digital estimators and performance. Prediction. Spectral estimators. Applications of telemedicine. Digital health systems.
Laboratory of numerical examples by MatLab platform.
Further details at: http://host.uniroma3.it/laboratori/sp4te/teaching/sp4bme/program.html

G. Giunta, Slides of Signal Processing for Biomedical Engineering, edition 2015.
TAMAL BOSE, FRANCOIS MEYER, "DIGITAL SIGNAL AND IMAGE PROCESSING", DECEMBER 2003, WILEY PUBL.
A.V. OPPENHEIM, R.W. SHAFER, J.R. BUCK, "DISCRETE-TIME SIGNAL PROCESSING", PRENTICE-HALL, UPPER SADDLE RIVER, NJ (USA), 1999.

This course will use a problem-based learning approach to provide students with an understanding of recent advances in biomedical engineering, with a focus on the design of clinical decision support systems. Students will be provided with elements of theory associated with the use of the main machine learning techniques, exploring aspects of supervised and unsupervised learning, and exploring the application of these techniques to the general context of health care. Students will be taught to implement these techniques in commonly used programming environments (Python). The students will then work in groups and use the acquired theoretical knowledge and programming skills to solve a project of interest in the field of biomedical engineering, also referring to available databases (MIMIC, Physionet,...). Using the acquired competences in theoretical elements and on the basis of the practical activities performed, students will then be able to concretely validate solutions to real biomedical engineering problems of clinical relevance.

Material available on the university platform (lecture slides, A/V recordings, guided exercises, project examples)

Introduction to the course. Biomedical signals: Electroencephalography (EEG), Electromyography (EMG), Electrocardiography (ECG). Basic Elements of Signal Processing: representation in the Fourier domain, filtering, artifacts and noise rejection. Spectral estimation: non-parametric and parametric techniques. Time-frequency analysis: Short Time Fourier Transform and Spectrogram, Wavelet and Scalogram. Matlab Labs.

L. Sornmo, P. Laguna. Bioelectrical signal processing in cardiac and neurological applications. Elsevier Academic Press. 2005.
Materials on-line (notes, exercises, solutions. Download from Moodle).

Part I: electrical models of the neurons

Introduction to neural engineering

Passive models of excitable cells

Active models: Hodgkin-Huxley


Part II: neural signal processing

Mathematical models of spiking neural activity

Algorithms for spike detection

Algorithms for spike sorting

Practical implementations using Python


Part III: motor control

Introduction to motor control theories

Modular motor control

Muscle synergy analysis

Practical implementation using Python

Horch, K. W., & Dhillon, G. S. (Eds.). (2004). Neuroprosthetics: theory and practice (Vol. 2). World Scientific.

He, B. (Ed.). (2007). Neural engineering. Springer Science & Business Media.

Aurelien Geron (2019). Hands on Machine Learning. O’Reilly

• Fundamentals of light and matter
Light propagation in vacuum and through dielectric media, interference, diffraction, coherence; Polarization of light, optical activity and birefringence. Light sources and photons; Schrödinger equation; Quantized states in atoms and molecules; Electronic and vibrational states of a molecule; Stereoisomers;
• Basics of biology
Cellular structure and types; Chemical building blocks; Cellular processes: replication, biosynthesis and energy production; Protein classification and function; Organization of cells into tissues.
• Light-matter interactions
Interactions between light and a molecule; Einstein’s model of absorption and emission; Interaction of light with a bulk matter; Fate of excited states; Electronic absorption spectroscopy; Electronic luminescence spectroscopy; Raman spectroscopy; Spectroscopy utilizing optical activity of chiral media; Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy.
• Lasers
Principles of lasers; classification of lasers; Biophotonics applications; Radiometry; Nonlinear optics; multiphoton absorption; Time-resolved approaches; Laser safety.
• Photonbiology
Interaction of light with cells and tissues; Photoexcitation and spectroscopy in vivo; Optical biopsy; Single molecule detection.
• Bioimaging
Overview of optical imaging; Transmission microscopy; Types of microscope; Numerical aperture and resolution; Phase contrast microscopy; Fluorescence microscopy; Scanning microscopy; Confocal microscopy; Optical coherence tomography; Spectral and time-resolved imaging; Localized spectroscopy; Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) imaging; Fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM); Time and Frequency-domain FLIM;
• Flow cytometry
Components of a flow cytometer; Optical response; Fluorochromes for flow cytometry; Data manipulation and presentation; Immunophenotyping; DNA analysis.

P. N. Prasad - Introduction to Biophotonics

Introduction to the course. Review of metrology. Main physical quantities in biomedical equipment and measurement systems. An overview of measurements for diagnostics. Fundamentals of cell biology. Characterisation and testing of medical instruments for diagnosis and therapy. Equipment for operating room and intensive care. Principles and techniques of blood pressure measurement. Medical infusion pumps.
Measurements for mechanical ventilation characterization and testing. Respiratory mechanics and diagnostic instruments. Basics of anesthesia delivery systems. Pulmonary ventilators. Ultrasonic and electrosurgical devices. Systems for extracorporeal circulation. An overview on diagnostic imaging systems in hospitals and quality assurance programs. An overview on systems and installations in hospitals. Test methods for biomedical equipment and installations, audits for quality assurance. Management and maintenance criteria of the medical equipment. General criteria for the organization of a clinical engineering department.

• NOTES AND PRESENTATIONS FROM THE COURSE.
• FRANCESCO PAOLO BRANCA “FONDAMENTI DI INGEGNERIA CLINICA - VOL. 1”, SPRINGER-VERLAG ITALIA 2000.
• FRANCESCO PAOLO BRANCA “FONDAMENTI DI INGEGNERIA CLINICA - VOL. 2”, SPRINGER-VERLAG ITALIA 2008.
• J.G. WEBSTER “MEDICAL INSTRUMENTATION:APPLICATION AND DESIGN”, ED. WILEY AND SONS.

Introduction to the course. Review of metrology. Fundamentals of statistics for dignostic measurements. Main physical quantities in biomedical equipment and measurement systems. An overview of measurements for diagnostics. Characterisation and testing of medical instruments for diagnosis and therapy. Principles and techniques of blood pressure measurement. Measurements for mechanical ventilation characterization and testing. Respiratory mechanics and diagnostic instruments. Basics of anesthesia delivery systems. Pulmonary ventilators. Diagnostic ultrasound physics and instrumentation: A-mode, B-mode, Doppler ultrasound. An overview on diagnostic imaging systems in hospitals and quality assurance programs. An overview on systems and installations in hospitals. Test methods for biomedical equipment and installations, audits for quality assurance. Management and maintenance criteria of the medical equipment. General criteria for the organization of a clinical engineering department.

• NOTES AND PRESENTATIONS FROM THE COURSE.
• FRANCESCO PAOLO BRANCA “FONDAMENTI DI INGEGNERIA CLINICA - VOL. 1”, SPRINGER-VERLAG ITALIA 2000.
• FRANCESCO PAOLO BRANCA “FONDAMENTI DI INGEGNERIA CLINICA - VOL. 2”, SPRINGER-VERLAG ITALIA 2008.
• J.G. WEBSTER “MEDICAL INSTRUMENTATION:APPLICATION AND DESIGN”, ED. WILEY AND SONS.

Medical devices and systems: common operating principles and specs

Diagnostic medical devices - Medical imaging
X-Ray Imaging: operating principles and theory (x-ray production, x-ray detection); equipment, specs, technical considerations; patient dose; quality parameters; angiography
CT Imaging: operating principles and theory; image reconstruction; instrumentation, specs, technical considerations; quality parameters; contrast agents; current technology trends
US Imaging: operating principles and theory, instrumentation, procedures, specs, technical considerations; Doppler US
MR Imaging: MR theory and operating principles; image reconstruction; instruments, specs, technical considerations; pulse sequences; functional MRI (fMRI); current technology trends

Therapeutics medical devices - Minimally invasive surgery
Systems for angioplasty (balloon, stent): operating principles; procedures; equipment, specs, technical considerations

Therapeutics medical devices - Open surgery procedures and Functional substitution
Heart valve replacement: artificial heart valves, biological heart valves; operating principles; procedures; instrumentation; specifications.

- Slides, handouts, exercises, available online on Roma Tre Moodle platform.
- Readings from:
Webb's physics of medical imaging
Introduction to biomedical imaging

Part I – Interaction between the electromagnetic field and natural materials
Foundations of electromagnetic field theory. Macroscopic response of natural materials. Constitutive relations and material classification. Linearity. Dispersion. Locality. Stationary and homogeneous materials. Causality and Kramers- Kronig relations. Electric response of natural materials. Material polarization. Electronic, atomic/ionic, orientation, interface polarization mechanisms. Lorentz model: derivation and discussion. Drude model: derivation and discussion. Magnetic response of natural materials. Electrodynamic response of a magnetized ferrite.

Part II – Interaction between the electromagnetic field and artificial materials
Artificial electromagnetic materials. Historical perspective. Chiral materials. Microscopic response of matter. Polarizability concept. Electric polarizability of a dielectric sphere. Magnetic polarizability of a metallic loop. Electric polarizability of a metallic strip. Electric polarizability of a metallic loop. Polarizabilities of the metallic omega particle. Magneto-electric effect. Local field and interaction field. From microscopic to macroscopic response. Homogenization techniques. Maxwell-Garnett formula. Clausius-Mossotti formula. Bruggeman formula. Energy density for dispersive materials. Causality and energy conservation: frequency behavior of the constitutive parameters. Anomalous dispersion. Introduction to metamaterials. Historical overview. Metamaterials and their definitions. Original studies by Victor Veselago. Negative index of refraction. Negative-index materials and their first implementation. Metamaterial terminology. Artificial electric materials with negative permittivity. The wire medium. The parallel-plate medium. Noble metals at optical frequencies. Artificial electric materials in the visible. Epsilon-near-zero metamaterials. Natural and artificial magnetism. The split-ring resonator: concept, analysis, and design. Miniaturization of magnetic particles. The Multiple Split-Ring Resonator: concept, analysis, and design. The Spiral Resonator: concept, analysis, and design. The Labyrinth Resonator: concept, analysis, and design. Modelling of metallic particles in the visible. The kinetic inductance of electrons. The fishnet structure. Route towards negative index material in optics. Optical magnetism.

Part III – Interaction between the electromagnetic field and living matter
Introduction to bio-electromagnetism. Historical overview and impact. Electric modeling of living tissues. Interaction mechanism, biological/health effects. Physical quantities to determine the risk. Dosimetry and exposure limits. European and national regulation.

Part IV – Electromagnetic invisibility, imaging and sensing
Conceptually new electromagnetic devices based on the use of metamaterials: invisibility cloaks, superlenses, hyperlenses.
Cloaking. Reduction of object observability. Stealth and RAM technologies. Electromagnetic invisibility concept. Total scattering cross section. Absorption cross section. Optical theorem. Definition of an ideal invisibility cloak. Figure of merit of non-ideal cloaks. Transformation electromagnetics as a route to invisibility. Alternative approaches to cloaking. Main limitations and assessment. Scattering cancellation approach to cloaking. Volumetric cloaks for cylindrical and spherical objects: analysis and design. Cloaking objects with other shapes. Cloaking a cone. Implementation of scattering cancellation based volumetric cloaks at microwave and optical frequencies. Mantle cloaking: concept, modelling, design, and implementation. Cloaking applications: reduction and manipulation of optical forces. Reduction of the Casimir effect.
Imaging and sensing. The optical lens and the diffraction limit. Superlenses: concept, physical aspects, and design. Hyperlenses: concept, physical aspects, and design. Near-field-scanning optical microscope (NSOM). Aperture and apertureless NSOM tips. Advanced imaging with partially cloaked tips. Electromagnetic sensors. Biological sensors.

Notes provided by the lecturer.