UPF Biomedical Engineering

17/06/2021

On June 30th, in the biomedical engineering UPF Congress, there will be a round table on the impact of COVID-19 on R&D sponsored by the FQUAES. Check out the speakers!

16/06/2021

Alan Russell studies regenerative medicine -- a breakthrough way of thinking about disease and injury, using a process that can signal the body to rebuild itself.

“Myself and Jay Vacanti from Harvard went to visit the director of the NIH, who's a very charming man, and a number of his directors of his institute just a few months ago, to try and convince him that it was time to take just a little piece of that 27.5 billion dollars that he's going to get next year and focus it, in a strategic way, to make sure we can accelerate the pace at which these things get to patients. And at the end of a very testy meeting, what the NIH director said was, "Your vision is larger than our appetite." I'd like to close by saying that no one's going to change our vision, but together we can change his appetite.”

18/05/2021

Organoid Biobanks in Colon Cancer Show Promise in Personalized Treatment Options
Biobanks of three-dimensional organoid cultures from colore**al cancer patients provided a substrate for genetic analysis and multidrug testing, showing promise for personalized treatment options in colore**al cancer.
Researchers at the Hubrecht Institute and the Cancer Genomics and University Medical Center, in the Netherlands, recently published their findings in Cell.

“This is the first time that a collection of cancer organoids, or a living biobank, has been derived from patient tumors. We believe that these organoids are an important new tool in the arsenal of cancer biologists and may ultimately improve our ability to develop more effective cancer treatments,” said geneticist Mathew Garnett at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in a press release.

Previous studies using genetic sequencing have revealed numerous mutations in the pathogenesis of colore**al cancer, such as P53, WNT, RAS-MAPK, DNA mismatch repair, and TGF-Beta. However, incorporating the identified genetic mutations of an individual patient’s tumor into predictable outcomes and treatment response has been limited.

Thoughts for the future include clinical trials “where we look at the sensitivity of the organoids for a certain drug and then compare it to the sensitivity of the patient’s tumor,” Wetering told Cancer Therapy Advisor.

Garnet noted further that “Cancer is a diverse and complex disease and having a large collection of organoids is necessary to encompass this diversity to enable scientists and clinicians to develop new treatments.”

Image: Tumor organoids (Photo courtesy of Marc van de Wetering, Hubrecht Institute)

14/05/2021

THE PROBLEM: COLORECTAL CANCER, Every year 1.4 milion new cases of colore**al cancer are diagnosed. This cancer can be cured in more than 90% of cases if precancerous polyps are detected and removed. Colonoscopy is the most effective method and the only one able to remove polyps in the entire colon. However, still 22% of polyps are missed.

In recent years, colonoscopy has become one of the most common medical examinations or procedures in the field of the fight against cancer. Only counting the tests provided by the screening program for colon and re**al cancer, about 150,000 colonoscopies are performed every year in Spain, about 23,000 of them in Catalonia. The importance of the problem is demonstrated if we remember that worldwide more than 1.4 million new cases of colore**al cancer are diagnosed each year.

The instruments used in these tests have been perfected over time but, basically, the colonoscope is still a long, flexible tube with a small video camera that makes it possible to observe the inside of the colon, detect polyps or possible tumors and extract tissue samples for analysis (biopsy). One drawback encountered by physicians is that the quality of the images obtained is still limited.

THE SOLUTION: Low-cost and safe electromagnetic accessory designed to be attached at the tip of a conventional colonoscope. MiWEndo automatizes polyp detection emitting an alarm when a polyp is sensed, increases the field of view to 360º and differenciates malignant and benign tissues without changing the current clinical practice.

10/05/2021

The company MiWendo Solutions, formally established this fall in Barcelona, has set itself the goal of making the early detection of colore**al cancer faster and more efficient. To achieve this, it will use the scientific knowledge in the areas of telecommunications and microwaves developed by the BCN Medtech research unit of the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, the Hospital Clínic and the Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (Icrea), co-founders of this technology-based spin-off.

MiWendo was created to bring to the market "a new low-cost medical device that will improve the effectiveness of colonoscopies using microwave technology," says Ignasi Belda, co-founder and CEO of the new company. The technology MiWendo is working with has been patented and the first prototype in the development phase consists of a small accessory - which is placed at the end of the colonoscope - with sensors that allow the large intestine to be scanned, detect possible polyps automatically and determine their degree of malignancy.

The company is now working on the final development of the product, conducting the necessary clinical trials and the commercial launch -in mid-2023- in the European Union, the United States and Japan; the countries with the highest incidence of colore**al cancer and where the greatest number of colonoscopies are performed. UPF researcher Marta Guardiola, co-founder and CTU of MiWendo, recalled at the company's presentation ceremony that the initial idea of applying microwaves in endoscopy is giving positive results and is demonstrating that there is a medical need that can be met with this technology.

The endoscopist of the Hospital Clínic Gloria Fernández, co-founder and CMO of MiWendo, highlighted the advantages that this new technology can offer in early detection programs for colon cancer. Colonoscopy "is not infallible, and the use of a microwave-based accessory will help us to overcome the limitations of endoscopic diagnosis as we know it now," said Gloria Fernandez.

Microwave technology expert Jordi Romeu, a researcher at the UPC's CommSensLab research center and co-founder of MiWendo, explains that "the interaction of microwaves with biological tissues is an area in which we have worked for different applications, and we think that in the case of colon cancer they can provide differential diagnostic elements that will be leading at the international level".

Discover more about the vision and mision of MIWENDO visiting its website: https://www.miwendo.com/

09/05/2021

Midterm report
At the end of January, you will be asked to send a written progress report to your tutors and supervisors. However, two weeks before, the Peer Review group will gather all the BTs and will ask your peers to evaluate your work and progress, by means of a written report. The length should not exceed 5 pages. The students hold a short presentation (approx. 20 min.) to their work-colleagues and supervisors. Both documents are not supposed to comprise all sections of the planned thesis. It should serve to evaluate the progress of the work and as an initial draft for the final thesis.

Written part
The thesis needs to have a specific structure: Abstract, Introduction, Methodology, Results and Discussion. Start writing your thesis having that structure in mind, then it will be easier to keep going until you finish.

You need to take into account that the thesis has a maximum length. You don’t need to write everything in the document, just work hard to make a good summary. Most people do not read a thesis like a detective novel: in a linear way from page 1 to the last. That is why it is important to have a good structure and table of contents for the reader to be able to jump back and forth.

As mentioned before, the thesis will have several parts, but they need to be, of course, interconnected. Make sure the text has a good cohesion and the different parts are linked. This will make the thesis easier and more pleasant to read.

To facilitate this work, two templates are provided with different formats (Word & Latex). Pay attention to figures, titles, subtitles, transitions… Everything is important. Remember to cite properly other’s work to avoid future problems!

Oral part
The oral part of your thesis is as important as the written one. We are lucky, we have plenty of practise during the degree for oral presentation, but still there are still things that we may sometimes forget.
Format
It is important to have a visually nice and organized presentation. Colours, contrast, typography, images and format are key. Take some time to decide on each of them.
Less is more. Keep it simple, it is not necessary to overload slides with information. Your speech is the most important, slides are only a complement.
Animations and transitions may be an attention getter but do not use them too much, it can make people get lost!
Check the slides and all the content previously mentioned before the presentation and make sure everything is ok (for example, videos!)
Content
Let the content be clear and organized (follow a structure similar to the one of the written thesis)
End with a powerful take home message
Remember all content which is not strictly yours must be cited correctly so the audience can check it.
Prepare additional slides with extra information you think people may ask when you finish. It is always easier to explain an idea with backup material.
Communication
Don’t be nervous, it is not a matter of life or death. You’ve been working for a long time so you can do it!
Try to make your speech fluent and not robotic. Practice, practice and practice!
Body language is very important!
The oral part consists of a round of questions. Be prepared, be polite with your answers and if you don’t know the answer to a specific question be honest.

There are some common pitfalls when working in the BT thesis that we will try to clarify now:

- MY THESIS WILL DEFINE THE REST OF MY LIFE!
Do not let the thesis become more important than it is. Yes, the thesis is one of the highlights of your studies, but it is only one part of them. The main point is to demonstrate that you can tackle an interesting topic in an academic manner and you are able to do research. It won’t define who you are or your career but you also need to know it can be helpful. So take it seriously but put it into context and take a more relaxed but constant attitude towards it. Getting rid of that pressure will result in an easier, faster and better work.


- MY RESULTS ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT PART!
Well, that is probably not true. The point of the BT is to show you can do research and document it in writing and defend it orally. If your research question, methodology and positioning are well done, the results are not that important.
That doesn’t mean they do not have weight in the overall result. They do, but don’t get fixated to obtain the best results but to develop a good state of the art, methodology and positioning.


- THE INTRODUCTION / STATE OF THE ART IS NOT A LAUNDRY LIST OF LITERATURE
The literature study in the thesis should not be a boring list of references you dug up from Google Scholar, it should be part of your narrative. Think of it as a large puzzle where other people’s work form 99% of the puzzle pieces and the last piece is this thesis of yours. Your job is to describe the picture that the whole puzzle forms. It needs to be useful, enjoyable and clear to situate the person who’s reading it about the current state of the topic you are working in.


- I’LL LEAVE WRITING FOR THE END!
That is not a good option. Since you most likely have few (or none) experience in writing a thesis text, you should start early on. Force yourself to start writing from the beginning. One or two pages are enough. Discuss the text with the supervisor and make it longer as you go on. If you leave writing for the end it will probably be harder to organize your ideas, have a good structure and sum up the information.


- FIND OTHER STUDENTS WITH SIMILAR PROJECTS GOING OR DONE
Discuss with them how they work with their supervisor. Offer to read a summary from a colleague (this is done by the peer-review proposal from Interdisciplinary Seminars subject, take it seriously! It is useful!). By talking with other students you will see you are not the only one facing problems and you can support each other.


- IF YOU HAVE PROBLEMS, LOOK FOR SOLUTIONS!
Everyone will have problems, but don’t let them live long. You are most likely not the first one to have this type of problem. It is not wrong to have a problem, it is only wrong not to go about it. So find solutions as they appear! Do not wait for them to become bigger!

08/05/2021

You can do your BT at an UPF institution or at an external one. It can also be linked to an internship that you have carried out in an enterprise. However, you must be tutored by a teacher of the school and it must be useful as an initiation to the realization of projects in their working field to future engineers.

The BT is carried out by students in an autonomous way although is guided by a tutor or supervisor. This means you need to have a clear organization to meet all the deadlines that are established.

The first step (if you didn’t do it before) after knowing your topic and establishing the hypothesis will be looking up for information and work on the state of the art. The BT must be the result of a painstaking documentation search process, from which to establish certain conclusions. To do this, you will have to consult various sources and contrast them. But we are lucky and we have several subjects that have taught us how to do so. Go for it with enthusiasm, since it is a very important part of the final result.

Once you know how you can focus your idea so that you come up with some new contributions to the field, it is very important that you organize your work properly. You need to fulfil different activities within the established deadlines and not afterwards. So, take this into account and try to finish the requirements several days before the deadline to avoid extra stress (yes! There is lot of stress during the BT! Not to instil fear!).

The BT has two main outcomes: the written and the oral part. Both are very important and you should give your best in both of them. In the following sections we are going to talk a little bit more about them.

Your choice of tutor or supervisor is as important as the choice of subject. It is essential that you think calmly about who you want to work with. It has to be someone who knows the subject, so that they can guide and help you whenever is needed. Furthermore, every tutor has their own methodology to keep track of your progress, so you should talk to previous students and see which suits you the best.

The BT procedure in the Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) and more precisely in the Biomedical engineering degree is quite different to other universities. You will see it corresponds to a large number of credits (meaning a large amount of work) and with a patterned structure. That is why, it is advisable to choose a UPF tutor that knows how the process works and can help you get the most out of it. This can also be applied to cases where the BT is being developed in an external institution, as it is a requirement to have a UPF tutor besides the external one.

In this last situation, sometimes people do not tend to give importance to the UPF tutor choice. However, it is recommendable that you don’t choose without giving it a thought, since they should know about your topic and about the BT pipeline so that they can lend you a hand when needed.

You can use the online resources mentioned above to have an idea of who has proposals for new BT, what fields do they work on, and in the case you have your own proposal of a topic, know who to contact with. More specifically, in this case, it is useful to use the TFG proposals for Biomedical engineering section in the official degree website, since, besides information regarding topics and name of researchers, it includes the group they work in, where you can click and get more general information about their work.

While, in previous years, the BT officially started in the second term, it now starts in September. Therefore, you should start thinking on the topics you would like to work on from the 3rd term of 3rd year, as well as during the summer, so that, when September comes, you know who to contact and find a topic you like early on. It can be hard to find time during the first term, and you may think that there will be plenty of it afterwards, but it could be useful if you start reading and collecting information about the topic you have chosen, to start the work with a clear mindset and pipeline. In other words, it is normal that you do not have results by the end of the first term, but at least you should have done an extensive research of the state of the art, and the methods you will follow.

07/05/2021

Choose according to what you like. Keep in mind the BT will take you many hours, so it is crucial that at least the topic motivates you. In this way, it will take you less to get the job done and you will be happier and prouder of what you have accomplished.
Sometimes it is not easy to have a clear idea about what you like, and it is completely normal. Take advantage of the numerous tools the degree gives you (optional modules, subjects, extra activities like seminars or events...), previous student’s experience and main topics from previous years to make up your mind. If you have several topics in mind and you don’t know which one to choose, it is good to find internships linked to those fields to see if they really suit you.
Some people may have a clear idea on the project they would like to work on, but it is okay if you only know the field you would like to focus on. The UPF offers several online resources to get some inspiration:
The main degree website includes a BT section where you can find several proposals from UPF researchers or external institutions that can be very helpful. Maybe you can find the project you have been dreaming about, but don’t worry if nothing seems extremely appealing to you. On this website you can also learn which areas of research are being covered by which professors, who you can then contact, and see if you can find the perfect BT topic to work on!
https://www.upf.edu/web/etic/enginyeria-biomedica-2016-informacio-estudiant
http://tfg.esup.upf.edu/tfg/pfc_consultar_pfcs.jsp?estudi=ebm
There is a BT related website regarding the Biomedical Engineering UPF Congress, the event where the BT are presented. This website is updated every year and contains very useful information not only for the people presenting that year but for future students. The Former Bachelor Theses section is divided into years and also in different topics. It is an easy way to go directly to the topic you are interested in and read the abstract of previous BT on fields of your interest. You can also see how the main fields change over the years and the main interests of different generations of students in the degree.
https://eventum.upf.edu/48146/section/24254/biomedical-engineering-upf-congress-2020. html

If you want to go a step further and read a full BT to see how it looks like and the specific content of different proposals, you can use the UPF repository, where you can browse the theses by the title, author or subject, among others. This is a useful way to get an idea on how the written part of the BT should look like and also dig deeper into some of the topics and fields of your interest.
https://repositori.upf.edu/handle/10230/25277

While, in previous years, the BT officially started in the second term, it now starts in September. Therefore, you should start thinking on the topics you would like to work on from the 3rd term of 3rd year, as well as during the summer, so that, when September comes, you know who to contact and find a topic you like early on. It can be hard to find time during the first term, and you may think that there will be plenty of it afterwards, but it could be useful if you start reading and collecting information about the topic you have chosen, to start the work with a clear mindset and pipeline. In other words, it is normal that you do not have results by the end of the first term, but at least you should have done an extensive research of the state of the art, and the methods you will follow.

06/05/2021

The bachelor thesis is the previous step to obtaining the title for which you have been fighting for so long. It is completely normal to be a little bit lost on the subject, don’t panic!
Throughout these days, you will be able to find different posts with information and tips about the BT. We hope this document is helpful to clarify some of the main ideas!
Stay tuned!

31/03/2021

Bio-New! Electric Stimulation Could Help Speed Wound Healing.
Electric stimulation may be able to help blood vessels carry white blood cells and oxygen to wounds, speeding healing, a new study suggests.
The study, published in the Royal Society of Chemistry journal Lab on a Chip, found that steady electrical stimulation generates increased permeability across blood vessels, providing new insight into the ways new blood vessels might grow.
The electrical stimulation provided a constant voltage with an accompanying electric current in the presence of fluid flow. The findings indicate that stimulation increases permeability of the blood vessel – an important characteristic that can help wound-healing substances in the blood reach injuries more efficiently.
link:

Electrical impulses may help vessels more quickly get healing agents to injuries. Electric stimulation may be able to help blood vessels carry white blood cells and oxygen to wounds, speeding healing, a new study suggests. The study, published in the Royal Society of Chemistry journal Lab on a C

29/03/2021

Bio-Recommend! Today we recommend you Pure Genius, a cutting-edge medical drama about a young Silicon Valley tech titan who enlists an exceptional veteran surgeon with a controversial past to run a state-of-the-art hospital with an ultramodern approach to medicine.

link:

Pure Genius is a cutting-edge medical drama about a young Silicon Valley tech titan who enlists an exceptional veteran surgeon with a controversial past to run a state-of-the-art hospital with an ultramodern approach to medicine.

05/03/2021

Oftentimes, doctors use blood samples to check for biomarkers of disease: antibodies that signal a viral or bacterial infection, such as SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, or cytokines indicative of inflammation seen in conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and sepsis.These biomarkers aren’t just in blood, though. They can also be found in the dense liquid medium that surrounds our cells, but in a low abundance that makes it difficult to be detected.
Engineers at the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis have developed a microneedle patch that can be applied to the skin, capture a biomarker of interest and, thanks to its unprecedented sensitivity, allow clinicians to detect its presence.The technology is low cost, pain-free, easy for clinicians or patients themselves to use, and could eliminate the need for a trip to the hospital just for a blood draw.

Nearly pain-free microneedle patch can test for antibodies and more in the fluid between cells. Blood draws are no fun. They hurt. Veins can burst, or even roll — like they’re trying to avoid the needle, too. Oftentimes, doctors use blood samples to check for biomarkers of disease: antibodi