Learn to use living tissues and cells in the development of technologies that can mimic or restore the function of diseased organs or damaged tissues.
How can you develop a heart-on-a-chip that can mimic an actual human heart, paving the way for more effective drug development and (animal-free) testing? And what about regenerating cartilage for arthritis patients with injectable hydrogels? The specialisation in Bioengineering Technologies focuses on the development of technologies that mimic or restore the function of diseased organs and damaged tissues, such as the heart, the kidney, cartilage and/or blood vessels.
The other specialisations usually focus on developing technologies to analyse or treat tissues or cells, or other parts of the human anatomy. But what’s special about this specialisation, is that those tissues or cells are actually a part of the technological solutions we develop.
This specialisation is centred on the development and improvement of technologies such as organs-on-chips or tumours-on-chips, implants based on biomaterials and living tissue, and moreover, analysing and testing these technologies to see whether they’re fit for purpose. These technologies can serve to directly promote the recovery or restoration of human cells, tissues or organs, but they can also be used indirectly for innovative medicine development. You will dive deeper into subjects such as applied (stem) cell biology, biomaterials engineering, molecular biology, biomedical science, and tissue engineering.
Thanks to the close ties with the MedTech industry (including UT’s innovative TechMed Centre) and many of your professors working partially in the clinical field, you will be sure to gain hands-on experience and work on real-life, relevant challenges. You might develop a heart-on-a-chip out of stem cells to model the cardiac side effects of novel cancer medicine, or you could focus on developing bioactive materials that can be integrated into the human body, in order to heal tissues and organs that are damaged (due to age, disease or trauma, for example). And what about contributing to the development of a wearable artificial kidney, enabling patients to undergo dialysis anytime and anywhere? There’s a great variety of challenges you might learn to solve!
For the specialisation in Bioengineering Technologies, a strong foundation in cell biology, molecular biology, organic chemistry, and biochemistry is essential. These examples provide insight into the types of background knowledge we typically expect from applicants. They are for illustrative purposes only and do not constitute a formal admission requirement or a guarantee of acceptance.
In this specialisation, you focus on engineering approaches to living systems. You learn how molecular, cellular, and tissue-level processes can be understood and used to develop new biomedical therapies and regenerative solutions.
After completing this Master’s specialisation, you:
After successfully finishing this Master’s specialisation, you:
Is this specialisation not exactly what you’re looking for? Maybe one of the other specialisations suits you better. Or find out more about related Master’s: