Plastics in Medical Devices

Date, Time & Instructors

The date and times for this seminar are Monday, June 29 - Wednesday, July 1 (3 days) from 8:30am-5:00pm (This includes breaks. Light breakfast, lunch and snack will be provided with no additional charge during breaks). 

This seminar is co-taught by Dr. Amy Peterson and Dr. Meg Sobkowicz-Kline.

Overview

This seminar is designed for individuals interested in an introductory course about how polymers and plastics are used in medical devices. This will include basics of biomaterials, material selection considerations, materials testing, biocompatibility, extractables and leachables, and device sterilization. Other materials as alternatives or complements to plastics, such as metals and ceramics, will also be described.

Content

Biomaterials

• Definitions and basic concepts
• Intro biological terminology and immune response
• Polymers and natural materials
• Metals and ceramics
• Interfaces and coatings
• Biodegradation and controlled release
• Introduction to Biomedical Devices market and applications

Biocompatibility

• ISO 10993 and endpoints of biological evaluation
• Extractables and leachables

Sterilization

• Common methods
• Relative advantages and disadvantages
• Sterilization process validation

About the Instructors

Dr. Amy Peterson is a Professor of Plastics Engineering at University of Massachusetts Lowell with expertise in interfacial phenomena and additive manufacturing (AM). Her research group studies processing-structure-property relationships in polymers and polymer composites, with a focus on interfacial phenomena in multilayered systems. She received her PhD in 2011 from Drexel University, where she was an NSF IGERT and Graduate Research Fellow. She was an Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellow while at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces 2011-2013 and was an Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute 2013-2018.

Dr. Meg Sobkowicz Kline is a professor of Plastics Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. She completed her bachelors of science in Chemical Engineering at Columbia University in New York. She worked as a field engineer in the petroleum industry and in the municipal water treatment industry before returning to school to complete her doctorate in renewable polymer nanocomposites. Following her graduate studies, Meg accepted a National Research Council postdoctoral fellowship at National Institute of Standards and Technology to research polymeric materials for photovoltaic applications. Dr. Sobkowicz Kline joined the UMass Lowell Plastics Engineering Department in 2011.

Other seminars taught by Dr. Sobkowicz Kline: Plastics Twin-Screw Extrusion and Compounding

Additional Notes

Email notifications

Upon registering, you will receive an automated confirmation email from Canvas Catalog with an email address of notifications@instructure.com. Please ensure that you are able to receive emails from this address, and please remember to check your junk and/or spam folders. This email address is unmonitored.

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Location

This is an in-person seminar held at UMass Lowell's North Campus in Lowell, Massachusetts.