Module Code - Title:

ME4052 - CELL AND TISSUE BEHAVIOUR FOR ENGINEERS

Year Last Offered:

2025/6

Hours Per Week:

Lecture

2

Lab

2

Tutorial

1

Other

0

Private

5

Credits

6

Grading Type:

N

Prerequisite Modules:

ME4523

Rationale and Purpose of the Module:

The purpose of the module is to give a basic appreciation of the physics of living cells and tissues. This is done through integration of physical chemistry, electrostatics and mechanics of biological systems.

Syllabus:

Presentation of physical chemistry, mechanics and electrostatics in the context of a unifying framework of thermodynamics. The students will learn to be acquainted with concepts such as chemical potential, electrochemical potential, diffuse double layers, electroneutrality, Brownian motion. Integrate these concepts with the knowledge that they acquired in earlier modules on thermodynamics, strength of materials, continuum mechanics, chemistry and biology. Application of the multiphysics of interfaces to mechanotransduction, tissue repair, cellular function, microfluidic devices, lab-on-a-chip and nanotechnological measurement. Gaining proficiency in laboratory skills of multiphysics of tissues and cells.

Learning Outcomes:

Cognitive (Knowledge, Understanding, Application, Analysis, Evaluation, Synthesis)

In this module, students will: 1. Develop basic understanding of the physical chemistry of ionic and non-ionic solution, ionic and non-ionic convection and diffusion, Brownian motion of colloidal particles. 2. Understand interfacial physics of biological tissues and cells, including electro-static repulsion and electroneutrality, Donnan osmotic swelling, Donnan potential, Donnan exclusion, transmembrane potentials of living cells. 3. Synthesise the knowledge from modules of chemistry and mechanics to apply them efficiently to human physiology. This knowledge includes the effective stress principle, pressure diffusion, hydraulic permeability and tortuosity, capillarity. 4. Gain insight in the diffuse double layer along charged interfaces, and apply these concepts to electro-osmosis, streaming potential, diffusion potential, diffusion-osmosis, diffusiophoresis and mechanotransduction. 5. Apply the above concepts to microfluidic devices, biomaterials, tissue engineered constructs, lab-on-a-chip and organ-on-a-chip. 6. Develop basic skills for measurement and modelling strategies in micro- and nanotechnology of tissue responses and of interfacial forces, including image analysis of microvelocity fields, nanoforce quantification and fluorescence imaging.

Affective (Attitudes and Values)

N/A

Psychomotor (Physical Skills)

N/A

How the Module will be Taught and what will be the Learning Experiences of the Students:

Lectures, practical laboratory demonstrations and experimentation by students, tutorials

Research Findings Incorporated in to the Syllabus (If Relevant):

Prime Texts:

Huyghe and Bovendeerd (2014) Biological Mixtures. AMAS lecture note series 20, Modelling Coupled phenomena in saturated porous media , ed. J. Kubik, M. Kaczmarek, I. Murdoch 227-279

I Tinoco, K Sauer, J C Wang, and J D Puglisi. (2002) Pearson Education International, Pearson Education International, Physical chemistry, principles and applications in biological sciences. , Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458,

Guyton and Hall (2015) Textbook of Medical Physiology , 13th edition, Elsevier,

Other Relevant Texts:

Programme(s) in which this Module is Offered:

BEBIENUFA - BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING

Semester(s) Module is Offered:

Spring

Module Leader:

rachel.cahalane@ul.ie