Scuola di Medicina e Chirurgia

Biomateriali e Organi Artificiali

Il corso di Biomateriali e Organi Artificiali intende fornire agli studenti le competenze necessarie a comprendere il funzionamento dei Biomateriali, artificiali, biomimetici, o naturali, con lo scopo di assistere, migliorare, o sostituire le funzioni biologiche dell’organismo. Questi, poi, costituiranno la base per la progettazione razionale di Organi Artificiali.

A biomaterial is now defined as a substance that has been engineered to take a form which, alone or as part of a complex system, is used to direct, by control of interactions with components of living systems, the course of any therapeutic or diagnostic procedure. This course covers the wide range of physical, biological and chemical sciences that underpin the design of biomaterials and the clinical disciplines in which they are used. These sciences include polymer synthesis and characterization, drug and gene vector design, the biology of the host response, immunology and toxicology and self-assembly at the nanoscale. Clinical applications include the therapies of medical technology and regenerative medicine in all clinical disciplines, and diagnostic systems that reply on innovative contrast and sensing agents. The contents of the course are relevant to areas such as cancer diagnosis and therapy, implantable devices, drug delivery systems, gene vectors, bio-nanotechnology and tissue engineering.