Supply and installation of a uniaxial, biocompatible mechanical test device

Tender description

The Department of Biomedical Engineering develops synthetic experimental systems to assess the efficacy of medical devices and implants. Target applications involve studying the respiratory and cardiovascular systems. The mechanical behaviour of solid tissue structures is of great importance to understand the mechanics of that system in health and disease. High-fidelity computational modelling frameworks already exist within the Department. This contract hopes to acquire hardware to enable robust mechanical characterisation measurements to be performed, to help provide input parameters and validation of such computational models. Expertise and hardware already exist for mechanical testing. However, this contract aims to purchase a dedicated biomaterials testing machine suitable for testing viscoelastic materials including tissue engineered structures (including living cells). The system must deliver environmental control, variable strain-rates and loading regimes (compression, tension, bending, shear) in one system with sensitivity and capability to measure low loads ~1N for tissue scaffold tests, as well as ~1kN for mechanical testing of bone (through simple changing of the load cell). A system that can also make use of our existing camera equipment, synchronising load-displacement outputs with camera equipment is highly desirable (GOM Aramis System and Photron Nova S6). This equipment is part of the IMPACT operation, which has been part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government and Swansea University.