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Medical Engineering Design - MSc

Mode of study: Full time, Part time
Entry months: September

Subject Area: Pharmacy
FEES (2022/23 academic year): UK - £10,200; International - £20,800

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Programme specifications

Course Overview

If you have ever spent some time in hospital, you are probably unaware that you were the beneficiary of medical devices that have been designed and developed by Medical Device Designers. Everything from the bed you lie on to the MRI scanner that shows your insides on a screen, to the blood pressure monitor, to the scalpel is known as a Medical Device and will have had input from Medical Device Designers. The aim of the MSc in Medical Engineering Design is to immerse you in the discipline to make you a Medical Device Designer so that you can work in this highly regulated design discipline.

Nathan Gibbons, MSc Medical Engineering Design

"The course exceeded my expectations and really gave me the skills I needed to progress my career in the industry of medical device engineering" - read more about Nathan Gibbons, MSc Medical Engineering Design

Nathan Wright, Medical Engineering Design MSc graduate

"The course allowed me to work on a real world project, rather than a hypothetical one, which was both challenging but fun. By having a lecturer with a high level of experience it made it useful when debating and developing understanding of the reasoning behind why certain actions are taken. " - read more about Nathan Wright, Medical Engineering Design MSc graduate

About the course

Overview

The course is run by the School of Medicine in collaboration with the Research Institute for Science and Technology in Medicine.

Teaching takes place at the Guy Hilton Research Centre, a dedicated research facility located on the Royal Stoke University Hospital site, and also at the main University Campus. The School of Medicine is one of the top-ranked in the UK, and the research institute has an international reputation for world-leading research in medical engineering and healthcare technologies.

The School embraces specialists working in Royal Stoke University Hospital, County Hospital in Stafford and specialist Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital in Oswestry. You therefore have the opportunity to specialise in any of the varied clinical disciplines offered at these hospitals.

The School also runs MSc courses in Biomedical Engineering and in Cell and Tissue Engineering, and an EPSRC and MRC-funded Centre for Doctoral Training, ensuring a stimulating academic environment for students and many opportunities for engaging with further study and research.

Aims of the course

The aim of the MSc in Medical Engineering Design is to turn you into a Medical Device Designer so that you can work in this highly regulated design discipline. Students are able to major in three distinct areas, medical devices design, sustainable devices design and formal, structured design per se. Core modules introduce you, and immerse you in design methodology, design control, international medical devices regulations, auditing, risk management and risk analysis, team working, and medical device specific technical documentation. This enables students to become distinctive through specialism choices whilst maintain academic rigour through the study of formal engineering design.

The course covers mandatory medical devices standards and regulations such as ISO13485, ISO 14971, BS EN 60601, MDD, MDR and FDA CFR21.

The course contains an encouraged internship element that can contribute to a student’s future, professional engineering registration. Because the course develops your creative engineering design skills whilst maintaining the rigour of a highly regulated design environment, you will be able to transfer the skills and knowledge you develop into a range of industries. You could move into engineering design per se, or move into (for example) Intellectual Property protection (a patent lawyer for example); technical sales; consultancy; or corporate finance. It is, in addition, an ideal stepping-stone into research and development activities in either industry or in academia.

The unique aspects of this course are that staff with direct, relevant industrial experience teach the core modules in medical devices design. Furthermore, a field trip is planned* in November of each year to coincide with the World’s largest medical device trade fair, MEDICA (see Additional Costs tab).

Course structure

How the course is taught

The course is taught through lectures and seminar. These are supported by tutorials and practical exercises. Collaborative learning and student-centred learning give widespread opportunity for group work and individual assignments. Students are required to conduct extensive independent study. Online access to literature is supported by full access to the Keele library on campus and the Medical Library on the hospital site. There is a suite of dedicated computers for the exclusive use of MSc students. Students are supported by the guidance of a personal tutor, as well as having access to university-wide support services. English language support is also provided, where appropriate.

A field trip is planned* in November of each year to coincide with the World’s largest medical devise trade fair, MEDICA. Because accommodation can be expensive students should be prepared to allocate about £500.

*The field trip is an aspiration and will depend on student demand and affordability.

Assessment

Modules will be assessed by a mixture of assessment methods, including lab reports, essays, presentations, and final examinations. In addition to the technical and subject specific knowledge, the course develops a range of transferable employability skills such as team working, time management and planning, written and verbal communication, and numeracy. The project dissertation forms a major component of the student’s assessed work.

Taught Modules

Core:

Advanced Engineering Applications 30 credits
Creative Engineering Design 30 credits
Experimental Research Methodology 15 credits
Engineering for Medical Applications** 15 credits
Research Project 60 credits

Optional:

2 x option 15 credit modules

**At the start of the award (preferably before enrolment), students will be invited to appraise their undergraduate experience to determine whether they are eligible for APL of the module Engineering for Medical Applications. Students who require the study of this module will be supplied with a pre-course study pack to prepare them for the conversion element of this award.

Two new CORE engineering design modules (Advanced Engineering Applications and Creative Engineering Design) provide a further 60 credits.

Before undertaking the dissertation project there is an opportunity to study 2 x 15 credit OPTION modules (spread across the first two semesters) derived from existing offerings within Biomedical Engineering and Sustainability.

The final module is an existing CORE module the MSc Project (60 credits).

Core Taught Modules

ADVANCED ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS

The aim of this module is to provide underpinning principles of engineering manufacturing, materials and communications to enable students to undertake project based design studies within the context of medical devices and healthcare technologies. The module will develop internal auditing skills as well as covering aspects of "Engineering Applications" and "Engineer in Society" as stipulated by the Engineering Council's specification for engineering education UKSPEC.

CREATIVE ENGINEERING DESIGN

The aim of this module is to develop a student's formal engineering design ability in order that they could undertake a design project, either as an individual or as part of a design team, within the context of medical devices/healthcare technology.

EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The Experimental Research Methodology Module gives students the skill set that is required for their development in a scientific career; from learning how to take notes in research seminars allowing them to write a comprehensive literature review in that area, to making sure they are efficient with their time in written examinations by giving them the chance to mark practice questions and decide where the marks should be given. The module brings together elements of professional development that should not be overlooked. A range of seminars, workshops and taught classes are timetabled during which students will have the opportunity to learn first-hand a range of skills necessary for them to achieve their best in their Masters programme. Classes on statistics will further support students in other theoretical and practical aspects of their course.

ENGINEERING FOR MEDICAL APPLICATIONS

This module will cover the fundamentals of mechanics, electronics and electromagnetism necessary to understand the application of engineering principles to medicine and biology. This will enable students from varying backgrounds and career paths to transition into the advanced topics covered in the core and specialist modules in biomedical engineering. In addition to the lectures, students will take part in a workshop-based project to apply the theory they have learned to practical measurement.

Research Project

Students are able to undertake internships under the University wide scheme (see Keele Internships). As a part of this scheme you may be able to register for additional certification (Accreditation by the Institute of Leadership and Management) under the Keele University Skills Portfolio scheme.

Our expertise

This course is led by Professor Peter Ogrodnik, to find out more about him click here.

Professor Ogrodnik is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer, a Member of the Institution of Engineering Designers and a Fellow (regional) of the Royal Society of Medicine, an Honorary Consultant at the Royal Stoke University Hospital. For over 20 years he has conducted research into optimising the treatment of tibial fractures. Using this research base he has enhanced the application of engineering design principles to the solution of medical devices, his book Medical Devices Design is a core text in core R&D departments.

He has founded two medical devices companies (one manufactures and sells medical devices to the NHS and beyond) and is named inventor on numerous patents and a founder of two medical device companies.

He was a founding director of the University spinout Intelligent Orthopaedics Ltd, and is a founding partner of Metaphysis LLP. Through this corporate involvement Professor Ogrodnik has an understanding of the realities of applied research for industry; for example he was a member of the AWM Healthcare Technologies cluster opportunity group.

The course is also supported by staff from within the research centre and from across the university as a whole: for example

Dr J Herman: Engineering for Medical Applications and Biomechanics

Dr S George: Sustainability option modules

Prof N Forsyth: Research Methods and Bioreactor Design

Prof Y Yang: Biomaterials

Examples of innovative medical engineering designs

Here are some innovations that are now in commonplace use in the healthcare environment. Keele has been fortunate to have been at the forefront of many innovative developments and works closely with our healthcare partners (the Royal Stoke University Hospital (RSUH) for example, is one of the larger trauma hospitals in the country) to ensure that they are both useful and effective.

STORM

The Staffordshire Orthopaedic Reduction Machine was designed by staff teaching on this MSc. It is now being sold across the EU and in the USA. To date it has been used to treat thousands of broken legs and bring them back to near perfect alignment.

IOS

IOS is an innovative external fixator system that was designed and developed by staff teaching on this MSc. Again it is on the market across the EU and the USA. To date it has treated over 400 broken legs in Stoke on Trent alone, the shortest healing time being 8.5 weeks.

HARTSHILL HORSESHOE

The Hartshill Horseshoe was designed and developed at the old North Staffordshire Royal Infirmary (now RSUH). This is an example of a device that is now in widespread use for spinal surgery across the world.