Medical Device-Biological Interactions at the Material-Tissue Interface

Medical devices are used to treat the diseases just like drugs. Artificial heart valves, knee joints, and pacemakers are a few familiar examples of medical devices. Different from drugs that treat disease by chemically affecting the patients, medical devices help the patients by physically acting on the diseased tissues or organs. Understanding the interactions, either the intended or adverse, is a key to the success of the medical devices.

This workshop is to bring together a group of scientists, mathematicians, and physicians to discuss the device-biological interactions at the material-tissue interfaces from the perspective of medical efficacy and scientific mechanisms. Medical, engineering, and mathematic tools will be used. The goal of the workshop is to identify challenges and opportunities in the fields to stimulate collaborations among physicians, scientists, and mathematicians.

Topics of the workshop include: 

1. Biological reactions to foreign material (implant), including blood clotting and inflammation reactions;
2. Bacterial colonization at implant surface and biofilm formation;
3. Responses of tissues to the electric stimulations and sensing;
4. Mechanical interactions between implants and the tissues: in vivo loading conditions and their effects on tissues (e.g. atrophy and hypertrophy).