The challenge of exposing biomedical engineering students to the broad array of core
engineering and biology topics often makes it difficult to adequately address all relevant areas of
the biomedical engineering field in the undergraduate curriculum. This paper will present a cellculture
based biocompatibility module with laboratory and lecture components that can be easily
integrated into an engineering or biomaterials course.
This module was developed to introduce students to basic cell culturing techniques and to
provide students with exposure to the issues related to the interaction between living and nonliving
materials (ABET Bioengineering Program Criteria). The lecture component focuses on
biocompatibility issues, including: the definition of biocompatibility, cellular response to
implantation of a foreign material, and the types of biocompatibility tests recommended by the
FDA. For the laboratory component, students are first introduced to basic cell culture techniques,
including sterile technique, cell counting, and cell splitting. Next, students perform an in vitro
cytotoxicity assay (direct contact) based on ISO-10993, gaining hands-on experience in
biocompatibility testing.
In its current form, the core unit consists of two hours of lecture and seven hours of cell culture
lab spread over three weeks; however, this unit can be shortened or expanded depending on time
available and the amount of supplementary topics introduced. A stand-alone cytotoxicity assay,
for example, could be completed by students in one week. Examples of supplemental activities
that can be incorporated into the unit are included below:
• Expanded group and individual cell culturing: After students learn and practice sterile
technique and cell culturing principles within small groups, each student is responsible to
split and maintain their own cell line for a period of time.
• Training videos: To reinforce proper cell culturing practices, groups of students generate
training videos to demonstrate procedures such as good and bad pipetting practices,
performing a cell split, or counting cells.
• Standards: The use of the ISO-10993 cytotoxicity assay opens the door for instruction on
the role of standards documents in defining accepted test procedures for medical device
development, and introduces the topic of standards organizations as a whole.
• Statistics: Statistical methods can be reinforced by involving students in the design of the
experiments and requiring statistical analysis of quantifiable results of the cell culture
experiments, such as image analysis of the size and shape of cells or cell counts.
• Bioethics: The use of HeLa cells or other cell lines originating from traceable human donors
affords an opportunity to discuss bioethics issues relating to biologic specimen collection.
The self-contained biocompatibility module described in this paper provides biomedical
engineering students with relevant cell culture experience and exposure to the interactions
between living and non-living materials. A simple biocompatibility lecture-lab module can be
incorporated into an existing class as a one or two week unit, or the length and depth of the unit
can be expanded through the incorporation of optional supplemental activities. Assessment
results from the past three years demonstrate that the module enables students to meet
biocompatibility-related performance criterion, and student satisfaction is indicated by positive
comments from student course evaluations.