24-636   Energy Applications in Biology and Medicine: From Engineering Principles to Medical Devices

This course covers a wide range of energy-based applications in biology and medicine, such as cancer treatments by cryosurgery (freezing), thermal ablation (heating), photodynamic therapy (light-activated drugs), and irreversible electroporation (a non-thermal electrical application). This course also covers thermal regulation in humans and other mammals, as well as cryopreservation (low-temperature preservation) of tissues and organs for the benefit of organ banking and transplant medicine. The course combines lectures and individual assignments relating to the underlying principles of engineering, with teamwork on open-ended projects relating to concurrent challenges at the convergence of engineering and medical sciences. The course plan assumes a mastery of the fundamentals of heat transfer at the undergraduate level.