This symposium will bring together novel and emergent technologies focused at the intersection of engineering, science and medicine. Biomedical engineering is an area of global importance and with an aging population, there is a growing need to deliver an increasingly technology-driven standard of patient care. With an escalating frequency of cardiovascular, musculoskeletal and neurological conditions, patients find their treatment increasingly carried out using implantable devices; worn out joints replaced with metal or ceramic, stimulating and recording electrodes interfaced with nervous tissue to treat Parkinson’s disease or interfaced with muscle to control both cardiac and gastric function. It is estimated that currently 25 million US citizens are dependent upon an implantable device to maintain life.

Advances in materials science and engineering have allowed us to enter a new phase in both our understanding and our use of implanted material. No longer are these materials inert substitutes and increasingly the new implant interfaces with the body in a deliberately dynamic way. Engineered functional biointerfaces are a key component of biomaterials and the development of more sophisticated ‘smart’ biomedical devices will revolutionize the diagnosis and treatment of conditions ranging from osteoarthritis to Alzheimer’s disease as well as contribute in the prevention of disease. Many clinical challenges remain and translatable materials and medical devices may hold the solution.

This symposium will be of interest to a diverse population of interdisciplinary scientists involved in the development, characterization and application of materials in prosthetics, sensors and smart scaffolds for a variety of bioinspired or biomedical applications. Materials science topics are divided into medical themes and speakers will present work focused on understanding the health challenge and innovating materials, therapies, implants and technology to develop tomorrow’s solutions. This symposium will also address the regulatory requirements for the increasing demand of clinical studies as well as commercialization and how to bring a new device or product to market.

This symposium hopes to fuel the exchange of ideas, insight and technology with the purpose of catalyzing new developments and discoveries that push the future of technology driven patient care into the next generation. The goal is to bring together scientists and engineers to facilitate collaboration between academic institutions and industry.

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