NCKU lunches Taiwan’s first medical device innovation course
Tainan, Taiwan, April 11, 2013
National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) is the first university to offer “Medical Device Innovation-Biodesign” course in Taiwan, the university revealed recently.
Initiated by the NCKU Department of Biomedical Engineering, the course started in Jan., where participants of this course not only included Master’s degree students, many researchers in the industrial sector also took the opportunity to attend this course.
As research on medical devices is fast becoming the hottest current topic in the world, many universities including National Yang Ming University (NYMU) and Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology (STUT) have already sought collaboration with NCKU regarding the extension of this course.
The NCKU Medical Device Innovation Center Director Dr. Fong-Chin Su and Dr. Tzer-Min Li from the NCKU Institute of Oral Medicine are responsible for the setup of the new course, where students from the NCKU Medical College, College of Engineering, College of Bioscience and Biotechnology, College of Planning and Design and other departments form the majority of the students taking up this course.
“This biodesign course is a study on medical device based on teaching, research and industry-academia collaboration,” revealed Director Su. “It provides students with systematic medical device design and practical training on commercial application of medical devices.”
Practical training in clinical observation, product patents and regulatory certification, as well as industry-academia collaboration, provides added value to the application of medical devices from different professional perspectives, thus creating innovative designs and opportunities for commercialization of medical devices.
Emphasizing on the concept of “From Bedside to Products” in the process of developing medical devices, this course requires students to have in-depth discussions with clinicians regarding problems commonly faced by clinicians and search for relevant solutions for these problems by creating new medical device design.
In other words, it trains students to identify clinical problems and needs, and improve their problem-solving skills through basic and professional courses, thus nurturing cross-disciplinary talents from the medical and engineering fields.
The basic course presents an introduction to designing medical devices used specially for disease treatment and solving some of the current clinical problems.
On the other hand, the contents of the professional course include the introduction to regulations on medical devices, diagnostic techniques for specific diseases, latest research developments on the newest medical devices and the future development of medical devices. Clinical observation though involves visits to operating rooms and bedside observation.
This course also encourages students to implement what they have learnt, focusing on creating medical product prototypes and testing. Throughout the course, students will be provided with the necessary materials and assistance to create innovative designs and prototypes as well as to conduct testing.
Furthermore, students attending this course are highly recommended to participate in entrepreneurial competitions related to medical devices, focusing on the theme of “unmet clinical need forum”, in order to assist in forming innovative collaboration between clinicians and engineering scientists.
The most interesting part of this course is that many of the teaching staffs are researchers who have undergone training through the Stanford-Taiwan Biomedical (STB) Fellowship Program organized by the National Applied Research Laboratories in Taiwan. These teaching staffs are professionals with lofty ideas and practical experience who will inherit their knowledge and experience to students attending this course.
One of these teaching staff is first year STB graduate, Dr. Chung-Chu Chen, who delivers lectures focusing on important strategies in the medical device sector, as well as the competitive advantages and business strategies during the entrepreneurial process based on his own experience as a business owner in this sector.
Another example is Dr. Yen-Chieh Mao, a mechanical design engineer as well as a researcher working under the STB program, who concentrates his research efforts on the “iStrider” mechanical leg to assist patients with moderate knee problems.
Other earlier STB graduates such as Dr. Chieh-Hsiao Chen, Dr. Tung-Meng Tsai, Dr. Hsiao-Wei Tang, Dr. Yen-Yu Chen and others, have also joined the big family of this brand new NCKU course.
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National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) is the first university to offer “Medical Device Innovation-Biodesign” course in Taiwan, the university revealed recently.
Initiated by the NCKU Department of Biomedical Engineering, the course started in Jan., where participants of this course not only included Master’s degree students, many researchers in the industrial sector also took the opportunity to attend this course.
As research on medical devices is fast becoming the hottest current topic in the world, many universities including National Yang Ming University (NYMU) and Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology (STUT) have already sought collaboration with NCKU regarding the extension of this course.
The NCKU Medical Device Innovation Center Director Dr. Fong-Chin Su and Dr. Tzer-Min Li from the NCKU Institute of Oral Medicine are responsible for the setup of the new course, where students from the NCKU Medical College, College of Engineering, College of Bioscience and Biotechnology, College of Planning and Design and other departments form the majority of the students taking up this course.
“This biodesign course is a study on medical device based on teaching, research and industry-academia collaboration,” revealed Director Su. “It provides students with systematic medical device design and practical training on commercial application of medical devices.”
Practical training in clinical observation, product patents and regulatory certification, as well as industry-academia collaboration, provides added value to the application of medical devices from different professional perspectives, thus creating innovative designs and opportunities for commercialization of medical devices.
Emphasizing on the concept of “From Bedside to Products” in the process of developing medical devices, this course requires students to have in-depth discussions with clinicians regarding problems commonly faced by clinicians and search for relevant solutions for these problems by creating new medical device design.
In other words, it trains students to identify clinical problems and needs, and improve their problem-solving skills through basic and professional courses, thus nurturing cross-disciplinary talents from the medical and engineering fields.
The basic course presents an introduction to designing medical devices used specially for disease treatment and solving some of the current clinical problems.
On the other hand, the contents of the professional course include the introduction to regulations on medical devices, diagnostic techniques for specific diseases, latest research developments on the newest medical devices and the future development of medical devices. Clinical observation though involves visits to operating rooms and bedside observation.
This course also encourages students to implement what they have learnt, focusing on creating medical product prototypes and testing. Throughout the course, students will be provided with the necessary materials and assistance to create innovative designs and prototypes as well as to conduct testing.
Furthermore, students attending this course are highly recommended to participate in entrepreneurial competitions related to medical devices, focusing on the theme of “unmet clinical need forum”, in order to assist in forming innovative collaboration between clinicians and engineering scientists.
The most interesting part of this course is that many of the teaching staffs are researchers who have undergone training through the Stanford-Taiwan Biomedical (STB) Fellowship Program organized by the National Applied Research Laboratories in Taiwan. These teaching staffs are professionals with lofty ideas and practical experience who will inherit their knowledge and experience to students attending this course.
One of these teaching staff is first year STB graduate, Dr. Chung-Chu Chen, who delivers lectures focusing on important strategies in the medical device sector, as well as the competitive advantages and business strategies during the entrepreneurial process based on his own experience as a business owner in this sector.
Another example is Dr. Yen-Chieh Mao, a mechanical design engineer as well as a researcher working under the STB program, who concentrates his research efforts on the “iStrider” mechanical leg to assist patients with moderate knee problems.
Other earlier STB graduates such as Dr. Chieh-Hsiao Chen, Dr. Tung-Meng Tsai, Dr. Hsiao-Wei Tang, Dr. Yen-Yu Chen and others, have also joined the big family of this brand new NCKU course.
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