Category: biomedical engineering

Animal studies may not be reflective of human physiology and results must be taken with caution

May 17, 2024

In the discipline of biomedical engineering and medical studies, there is a tendency to test the efficacy of medical devices or drugs with animals such as mouse, rabbits, and even pigs. This step of the research process is to gather data on the effectiveness of the drugs or medical device in delivering its function. Usually, … More Animal studies may not be reflective of human physiology and results must be taken with caution

Biomolecular informational content of biomedical engineering and bioengineering

December 7, 2023

To the student, it may be difficult to choose between a programme in biomedical engineering or bioengineering. So, at the biomolecular level, what are the differences between these two allied disciplines? Firstly, biomedical engineering focuses its analysis at the tissue and organ levels, and use this as an analytical platform to build up to the … More Biomolecular informational content of biomedical engineering and bioengineering

Different incarnations of the new discipline at the intersection of biology and engineering

October 5, 2023

Over the past two decades, there has been a flourish of research and educational initiatives at the interface of engineering and biology. The goal is to make biology more quantitative, informative, and engineering based to afford new insights into disease treatment and for applied product development such as cancer immunotherapy. In this area, three complementary … More Different incarnations of the new discipline at the intersection of biology and engineering

Biomedical engineering curriculum comes with different emphasis and focus depending on local needs

October 2, 2023

Casting a glance at biomedical engineering curricula across the world would reveal significant variation in course content and emphasis. For example, some countries may emphasize more on medical imaging modalities while other countries focus more on cellular therapies. But, at the bare minimum, biomedical engineering curriculum around the world share similarities in the coverage of … More Biomedical engineering curriculum comes with different emphasis and focus depending on local needs

Choice of growth medium depends on the mammalian cell type and stage of cancer

September 15, 2023

In general, students in the life sciences and biomedical research would think the DMEM medium is appropriate for most cell types. Indeed, that is true for most general applications. However, if you are asking more nuanced questions that require recapitulation of certain cellular phenotype or physiology, then modifications to DMEM or using some exquisite growth … More Choice of growth medium depends on the mammalian cell type and stage of cancer

Modern optical microscopy is increasing moving towards high content screening applications

July 17, 2023

Conventional microscopy techniques tend to be time consuming as researchers uses different magnification to search for regions of interest on the glass slide. Naturally, the larger the sample or specimen, the more regions of interest need to be searched, which increases the analysis time. But, there is a trend in modern optical microscopy where artificial … More Modern optical microscopy is increasing moving towards high content screening applications

Oxygen permeability of PDMS may be modulated by polymer content

July 10, 2023

Poly(dimethylsiloxane), PDMS is a common material of construction for biocompatible microfluidic chips for cell culture or organ on a chip applications. At the fundamental level, PDMS is chosen for its oxygen permeability, which allows gas exchange between the cells in the growth medium, and the external environment. But, culturing cells in a microfluidic chip is … More Oxygen permeability of PDMS may be modulated by polymer content

Microfluidic organ on a chip may not be good model for disease modelling

July 4, 2023

Microfluidics organ on chip systems have been at the fore of disease modelling from the engineering perspective for the past 15 years. Typically, relevant primary cells or cell lines are cultivated in microfluidic chip with microliter volume capacity with perfusion of oxygenated growth medium. Over a couple of days of continuous cultivation, cells would grow … More Microfluidic organ on a chip may not be good model for disease modelling

Neuronal cells need high oxygen content and glucose for sustainment

June 11, 2023

Neuronal cell culture at the level of primary cells or cell lines is essential for creating an experimental model for studying a variety of neurological diseases such as dementia, Parkinson’s disease, different types of brain cancer. Typically, these neuronal cells need high oxygen content and glucose for optimal metabolic activity and cell sustainment and proliferation. … More Neuronal cells need high oxygen content and glucose for sustainment

Utility of single cell RNA-sequencing depends on the biological question asked

April 20, 2021

Understanding differential gene expression at the single cell level offers a unique view into cellular transcriptional dynamics as well as stochasticity of gene expression at the population level. Single cell RNA-sequencing has emerged as the de facto tool for understanding differential gene expression in cells. However, when should we probe differential gene expression at the … More Utility of single cell RNA-sequencing depends on the biological question asked