Development of medical devices involving:
- Computer aided design
- Computational modelling (finite element analysis, multi-physics)
- Mechanical testing
Development of a surgical instrument for spinal surgery
Manufacturing of alumna total disc replacement in collaboration with University College Dublin (UCD)
Mechanical testing of screw fixation in synthetic bone
Mechanical testing of the BDyn posterior dynamic stabilisation device
Natural and synthetic biomaterials: relationship between composition, structure, function, failure and replacement for:
- Understanding mechanical basis of injury
- Improved materials selection for implants
- Improved fixation of implants
Mechanical testing of heart tissues
Computational modelling of the mitral valve
Computational modelling of the lumbar spine
Additive Manufacture (AM) and Developmental Biology:
- Systems analysis across development biology and AM
- Development of novel design frameworks
- Increasing the patient specificity of medical devices
- Biomaterials for AM
- Expanding the functionality of AM platforms
Applications of emerging technologies in bio-medical engineering:
- Micro-engineering and nanotechnology
- Tissue engineering
Facilities
Research facilities include:
- Bio-medical Engineering laboratory with a class II containment area
- Three Bose materials testing machines
- Three single-station Bose SDWS-1 Spine Simulators
- Pulse Duplicator
- A range of additive manufacturing platforms
- A desktop 3D scanner
Spine simulator