Biomedical engineers develop novel technologies for medicine. Biomedical engineering is a large field which ranges from developing novel health care IT systems, to walking aids and tissue engineering implants. My research focusses on a molecular level to prepare implants that are intended to replace and repair tissues that are damaged due to trauma or disease. More specifically, I specialize in the preparation and characterization of the materials and implants.
During my PhD studies, I made materials and implants which were intended to replace torn menisci, as these do not heal properly on their own. After my PhD I joined the Polymer Technology group at Aalto University where we work on implants to replace and repair large damaged bone tissues. The materials we use are similar as those used for the meniscus implants, however, to get bone instead of we need to add bioactive components. Which bioactive components work best, and how they affect the other properties of the materials is our current focus. In addition, in our group we have other exiting projects with regards to polymers in which we all contribute.
You can read more about the research in our group here: https://www.aalto.fi/en/department-of-chemical-and-metallurgical-engineering/polymer-technology.