Class lectures aim to provide detailed knowledge on the materials used for biomedical applications. Firstly, Tissue Engineering will be presented and subsequently the lectures will be focused on the properties of the recently developed biomaterials. The lectures will be correlated with examples and recent scientific publications. The student will also be instructed in the recognition of the most suitable sources to refer to during the bibliographic research.

The laboratory experiences have the following training objectives:
• Provide students with basic notions on several biomaterial characterization and analysis techniques;
• Allowing students a direct approach with various laboratory instruments employed for the characterization of biomaterials;
• Provide students with knowledge on the preparation and use of biomaterials in the form of hydrogels;
• Provide students with a guide for the analysis of data obtained experimentally and for the preparation of technical reports related to the practical activities carried out.

Dublin Descriptors
Knowledge and understanding
The student, at the end of the course, will have to know the main characteristics of the biomaterials and the basic principles of tissue engineering.

Applying knowledge and understanding
The student must be able to carry out a detailed examination of the properties of the biomaterials illustrating the advantages and disadvantages of the individual cases. Particular attention will be placed on the interdisciplinary argumentation skills between the subjects of the science of life and the medical and materialistic fields.

making judgements
The student must be able to evaluate, choosing among the various possibilities, which is the most suitable biomaterial for a given application.

Communication skills
The student must be able to describe the topics covered during the course with an adequate language property.

Learning skills
The notions acquired during the theoretical lessons will be applied in laboratory activities in which the student will be asked to individually perform simple experiments.

Fundaments of chemistry and physics.

Course Structure • Lectures: 4 ECTS (32 hours) Theoretical approach to the fundamental principles of biomaterials and their applications. • Laboratory: 2 ECTS (24 hours) Practical experiences and use of analytical and characterization techniques. Main Topics Theoretical Section • Introduction to Biomaterials • Definition and classification (first, second, and third generation) • Concepts of tissue engineering and in situ regeneration • Material Properties • Osteoinduction, osteoconduction, osseointegration • Surface roughness and wettability • Mechanical properties: stress-strain behaviour, toughness, ductility, elastic modulus, Poisson’s ratio • Cyclic loading, fatigue, hardness, stress shielding, bone remodelling • Types of Materials • Metals: titanium and alloys, corrosion, sterilisation • Ceramics: properties and production • Polymers: composition and biomedical applications • Analytical Techniques • X-ray diffraction, crystal structure • Clinical Applications • From bench to bedside Practical Section (Laboratory) • Contact angle measurement (wettability) • Surface roughness analysis of titanium implants • Hardness and uniaxial tensile tests • X-ray diffraction • Hydrogel preparation and mechanical property evaluation • Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) • Data analysis and report writing

Lecture notes will be provided from the teacher.
For attending students, the slides of the lessons can be downloaded, upon registration, from the Teams channel of the course.

The course aims to broaden the knowledge of the chemical, physical, biological and mechanical properties of materials already acquired by the student in other courses. These properties will be presented by focusing attention on the materials recently used in the biomedical field. At the same time, the techniques of production and application of biomaterials in tissue engineering will be discussed. The most recent scientific evidence in the field of materials for biomedical applications will also be described.
The course consists of lectures (4 CFU, corresponding to 32 hours of teaching) and 2CFU (corresponding to 24 hours of activity) of practical laboratory experience.
Class Lectures (32 hours)
- Definition of biomaterials and tissue engineering. Generation of biomaterials.
- Tissue engineering and in situ tissue regeneration.
- Methods for measurement of osteoinduction, osteoconduction and osseointegration.
- Surface roughness. Wettability of materials. Interaction between roughness and wettability.
- Mechanical properties of materials.
- Stress-strain diagram, real graph and technical graph, material toughness, ductile-fragile transition temperature. Sizing of a structure.
- Ductility, toughness, shear modulus or tangential elasticity modulus, Poisson coefficient.
- Cyclic loads and fatigue limit. Metal materials with fatigue limit. Hardness of materials.
- Stress shielding, bone remodeling, composite materials, mechanical properties of composite materials.
- Structure and crystalline geometry, X-ray diffraction.
- From bench to bedsides: the properties of biomaterials applied to the medical field. Metal biomaterials: titanium and its alloys.
- Degradation of materials and corrosion of metals.
- Sterilization of biomaterials.
- Ceramic materials: properties and production.
- Polymeric materials for biomedical applications, composition and properties.

These laboratory experiences are detailed in the following list:
- Study of the wettability of biomaterials by measuring static contact angles.
- Surface roughness measurement of titanium implants.
- Hardness tests on metallic materials.
- Analysis of mechanical properties through uniaxial traction tests.
- Characterization of materials by X-ray diffraction.
- Preparation of hydrogels based on alginate and measurement of mechanical properties.
- SEM microscopy analyses.
- Guided exercise on the analysis of data and additional information on the preparation of laboratory reports.

Class lectures given by the teacher with the help of a blackboard. The slides of the lecture will be projected by a beamer. Besides the slides, the beamer will be used to project audiovisual documents available in the web.
Laboratories activities.

For more info please contact the teacher: gturco@units.it
In the event of absence from a laboratory experience, a compilation thesis (non-research dissertation) will be assigned to the student concerning the use of that specific technique/topic reported in the recent scientific literature. The specific topics of the thesis will be assigned personally by the teacher to the student.

For the classroom lectures module (4CFU) the verification of learning will take place through an oral exam lasting around 45 minutes. For the laboratory module (2CFU) it will take place through the delivery of an essay containing the student's individual reports on laboratory activities.
The reports must be delivered via email to the teacher at least 15 days before the oral exam. The teacher's grade and comments regarding the reports will be discussed at the end of the oral exam.
The final grade of the exam will be a weighted average of the two single grades on the credits. A necessary condition for the registration of the mark is that both tests are passed with a mark of at least 18/30.
In case of refusal of the positive vote, the exam can be repeated not before the next exam session.

Oral exam assessment (4CFU)
30 -30 cum laude: excellent knowledge of the topics and excellent language skills; the student is able to brilliantly apply theoretical knowledge to concrete cases and to readily connect the notions.
27 -29: good knowledge of the topics, remarkable language skills, good analytical skills; the student is able to correctly apply theoretical knowledge to concrete cases and to connect the notions.
24-26: good knowledge of the main topics, good command of the language; the student shows an adequate ability to apply theoretical knowledge to concrete cases.
21-23: the student does not demonstrate full mastery of the main teaching topics, even if fundamental knowledge is possessed; the intervention of the teacher is needed to answer the questions correctly; however, satisfactory properties of language is shown.
18-20: minimal knowledge of the main teaching topics and technical language, limited ability to adequately apply theoretical knowledge to concrete cases.
Insufficient (<18): the student does not have an acceptable knowledge of the program contents.

Laboratory reports assessment (2CFU)
30 -30 cum laude: the description of the laboratory activities is flawlessly summarised in the report which was written with excellent language properties; the student brilliantly describes the laboratory activities, deepening the notions, comparing them with what is reported in the recent scientific literature of which an adequate discussion and bibliography is presented; the thesis is organised according to the guidelines provided in class by the teacher. Any type of conceptual, formal or grammatical error is absent.
27 -29: the student adequately describes what was done in the laboratory; the knowledge acquired during the laboratory activities has been studied in depth and compared with what is reported in the recent scientific literature of which an adequate bibliography is presented; the report is organised according to the guidelines provided in class by the teacher and presents high and sophisticated technical-scientific language.
24-26: the student adequately and thoroughly describes what was done in the laboratory; the report is written with precise and rigorous technical-scientific language and is organised according to the indications provided in class by the teacher.
21-23: the student is able to adequately summarise and present, with appropriate technical language, what was done in the laboratory; the report has no conceptual or formal errors.
18-20: the student is able to summarise and present in a limited way, with sufficient technical language, what was done in the laboratory; the written paper has minimal errors which determine a limited knowledge of the topics covered in the laboratory.
Insufficient (<18): the reports have gaps and serious errors, both conceptual and formal.

This course explores topics closely related to one or more goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDGs)