(40c) Development of New Technologies for Biomedical Applications

Biomedical engineering represents a new challenge for chemical engineers. In their previous successes, chemical engineers have developed many basic principles and methodologies that have been proven to work very well. These approaches, with modification and further development, should also be valuable for studying biological and medical phenomena. A major task for chemical engineers is to make their devices and/or processes designable, predictable, and under full control. Chemical engineers are needed to help transform the results of basic health research into practical products. In this lecture two examples of the important role of chemical engineers in human health are presented. The contributions involved process design, mathematical modelling, and biological interactions. The first one deals with the development of a technology of microcapsules production to use as smart drug delivery system for chemotherapeutic agents per recognition event. The second one described the successful process to produce a biocompatible biphasic matrix to pneumonectomy brochoplural fistula treatment.