Multi-scale and Multi-physical/Biochemical Modeling in Bio-MEMS

Abstract

Multidisciplinarity is intrinsic to Biomedical Engineering, as the products, processes and systems of the biomedical industry, aimed at continuously improving the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of pathologies, are normally developed by large teams of physicians, biologists, materials scientists and engineers. In the field of biomedical microsystems (bio-MEMS) for interacting at a cellular and even molecular level, several physical, chemical and biological phenomena are present and an adequate comprehension of the behaviour of such microdevices also requires studying interactions between the microdevices and the surrounding environments at different scale levels. In such complex systems, the use of modeling resources may be a key aspect towards a straightforward and successful development process. As modern (bio)engineering systems usually exploit phenomena at different scales for improving functionalities of traditional systems, linking the different scales and using multi-scale modeling approaches can increase the predictive capability and applicability of modeling to a wide range of applications. In addition, as modern (bio)engineering systems typically involve different areas of Physics and Chemistry, understanding and modeling their behavior requires the use of multi-physical/chemical modeling approaches. Only by being able to describe the behavior of such (bio)engineering systems at different scale levels and taking account of the physical and chemical phenomena involved in their operation, can we benefit from the advantages of (computer-aided) modeling regarding cost saving, reduction of time-to-market and overall understanding of the products, processes and systems under development. This chapter details methods and examples and provides some cases of study linked to the use of multi-scale and multi-physical/chemical modeling approaches in the field of biomedical microsystems for interacting at a cellular and even molecular level, as introduction to procedures used thoroughly along the Handbook.