Students will design and build a prototype of an artificial limb using a simple syringe system as an introduction to bioengineering. Students will determine which substance water (liquid) or air (gas) will make the appendage more efficient.

Mechanical forces play a decisive role during development of tissues and organs, during remodeling following injury as well as in normal function. A stress field influences cell function primarily through deformation of the extracellular matrix to which cells are attached. Deformed cells express different biosynthetic activity relative to undeformed cells. The unit cell process paradigm combined with topics in connective tissue mechanics form the basis for discussions of several topics from cell biology, physiology, and medicine.

" This design course targets the solution of clinical problems by use of implants and other medical devices. Topics include the systematic use of cell-matrix control volumes; the role of stress analysis in the design process; anatomic fit, shape and size of implants; selection of biomaterials; instrumentation for surgical implantation procedures; preclinical testing for safety and efficacy, including risk/benefit ratio assessment evaluation of clinical performance and design of clinical trials. Student project materials are drawn from orthopedic devices, soft tissue implants, artificial organs, and dental implants."

Students extend their knowledge of the skeletal system to biomedical engineering design, specifically the concept of artificial limbs. Students relate the skeleton as a structural system, focusing on the leg as structural necessity. They learn about the design considerations involved in the creation of artificial limbs, including materials and sensors.

In this activity, students use wood, wax paper and oil to investigate the importance of lubrication between materials and to understand the concept of friction. Using wax paper and oil placed between pieces of wood, the function of lubricants between materials is illustrated. Students extend their understanding of friction to bones and joints in the skeletal system and become aware of what engineers can do to help reduce friction in the human body as well as in machines.

Are you interested in investigating how nature engineers itself? How engineers copy the shapes found in nature ("biomimetics")? This Freshman Seminar investigates why similar shapes occur in so many natural things and how physics changes the shape of nature. Why are things in nature shaped the way they are? How do birds fly? Why do bird nests look the way they do? How do woodpeckers peck? Why can't trees grow taller than they are? Why is grass skinny and hollow? What is the wood science behind musical instruments? Questions such as these are the subject of biomimetic research and they have been the focus of investigation in this course for the past three years.

While all cells have a great deal in common, there is no end to the variation among them. These images provide a sense of the wondrous diversity found in the world of cells.

The Zooarchaeology Laboratory of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, was established in 1981 in order to facilitate the analysis of faunal remains from archaeological sites (also called Archaeozoology). Presently covering more than 850 square feet (79 square meters) on the third floor of the museum, the laboratory provides working and storage space for students and researchers who carry out studies on animal bones and teeth from around the world. It is also a teaching facility that is used for an intensive course on osteoarchaeology that is taught every second year by the laboratory's director, Dr. Richard H. Meadow, who is also available to consult with students and researchers using the laboratory and to assist in designing appropriate research protocols, in identifying specimens, and in evaluating research results.

The most important resources of the laboratory are its archaeological and modern comparative collections. The ancient faunal materials are part of the vast archaeological collections of the Peabody Museum and come from sites excavated over the years by museum staff and affiliates. Remains from New England, the American Southwest, Mesoamerica, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and South Asia are particularly well represented. The Peabody Museum has a tradition reaching back into the 19th century of encouraging the recovery and ensuring the subsequent preservation and storage of archaeological faunal collections. The Zooarchaeology Laboratory provides the facilities necessary for the study of these collections.

Absolutely essential to the success of any zooarchaeological endeavor is the availability of a comparative collection. The bones and teeth of modern animals of known species, age, and sex are compared to the archaeological faunal remains in order to permit identification and characterization of those remains. Since 1981 the Zooarchaeology Laboratory, through the efforts of research and curatorial assistants such as Tonya Largy and Peter Burns, has been engaged in establishing a collection of mammals, birds, and fish. Now numbering more than 1221 specimens, this collection is particularly strong in domestic species (especially sheep, goat, cattle and water buffalo) and in the wild fauna of New England. These materials supplement those housed in the Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ), a world-renowned collection that can also be used by students and researchers. The MCZ's collections from North America, Mesoamerica, and Asia are particularly noteworthy. The Zooarchaeology Laboratory also houses a working library of sourcebooks for comparative osteology as well as a large reprint file of articles dealing with faunal analysis.

This image from Biology by Kenneth R. Miller and Joseph Levine illustrates the relationship between structure and function by comparing the jaws and teeth of two animals with very different ways of life: the wolf and the horse.

Growth and development of normal bone and joints, the process of mineralization, the biophysics of bone and response to stress and fracture, calcium and phosphate homeostasis and regulation by parathyroid hormone and vitamin D, and the pathogenesis of metabolic bone diseases and disease of connective tissue, joints, and muscles, with consideration of possible mechanisms and underlying metabolic derangements.

This course focuses on the latest scientific developments and discoveries in the field of nanomechanics, the study of forces and motion on extremely tiny (10-9 m) areas of synthetic and biological materials and structures. At this level, mechanical properties are intimately related to chemistry, physics, and quantum mechanics. Most lectures will consist of a theoretical component that will then be compared to recent experimental data (case studies) in the literature. The course begins with a series of introductory lectures that describes the normal and lateral forces acting at the atomic scale. The following discussions include experimental techniques in high resolution force spectroscopy, atomistic aspects of adhesion, nanoindentation, molecular details of fracture, chemical force microscopy, elasticity of single macromolecular chains, intermolecular interactions in polymers, dynamic force spectroscopy, biomolecular bond strength measurements, and molecular motors.

This lesson covers the topic of human bones and joints. Students learn about the skeleton, the number of and types of bones in the body, and how outer space affects astronauts' bones. Students also learn how to take care of their bones here on Earth to prevent osteoporosis or weakening of the bones.

The principles and practice of tissue engineering (and regenerative medicine) are taught by faculty of the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST) and Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. The principles underlying strategies for employing selected cells, biomaterial scaffolds, soluble regulators or their genes, and mechanical loading and culture conditions, for the regeneration of tissues and organs in vitro and in vivo are addressed. Differentiated cell types and stem cells are compared and contrasted for this application, as are natural and synthetic scaffolds. Methodology for the preparation of cells and scaffolds in practice is described. The rationale for employing selected growth factors is covered and the techniques for incorporating their genes into the scaffolds are examined. Discussion also addresses the influence of environmental factors including mechanical loading and culture conditions (e.g., static versus dynamic). Methods for fabricating tissue-engineered products and devices for implantation are taught. Examples of tissue engineering-based procedures currently employed clinically are analyzed as case studies.

Student teams investigate biomedical engineering and the technology of prosthetics. Students create a model prosthetic lower leg using various materials. Each team demonstrate its prosthesis' strength and consider its pros and cons, giving insight into the characteristics and materials biomedical engineers consider in designing artificial limbs.