Welcome

Medical Device Design – 2.75, 2.750, 6.4861, 6.4860, HST.552 – Spring 2024

Each year we bring together clinicians, industry partners and students, faculty and staff to prototype new healthcare technologies that address challenges brought to us by clinicians and industry partners. We work together in small teams, following a 14-week, industry-modelled, design process, from problem definition, through building proof-of-concepts and evaluating their performance.

Lectures cover the fundamentals of mechanical and electrical hardware, short lab serve as skills-builders and invited speakers share their technical, clinical and healthcare business experiences.

We work to select challenges that are engaging for both young professionals (our students) and the project proposers! Past projects have spanned a wide range of challenges including, surgical tools, a better torniquet, new monitoring technologies, physical therapy devices and simulators, for research use.

This course meets jointly and is open to graduate students, seniors and juniors (with permission) from across the Institute and fulfills undergraduates’ communications intensive requirement.

Since 2003, this course has become an effective mechanism for prototyping new healthcare technologies, fostering research ideas and collaborations, sharing outcomes via peer reviewed conference and journal papers, and launching alums’ careers in industry, startups, academia and medicine.


→ Do you want to propose a project? – Spring 2024 Project Solicitation – CLOSED

Clinicians, Industry Sponsors & Colleagues are invited to propose projects for our Spring 2025 course.

The call for proposals will open in Fall 2024 and will be due at the end of December. Please check back.


→ Is this a good course for me? – Information for Students – ASK US

Learn more on the Introduction & Information page.

For further information, please reach out to the course staff – we appreciate all your questions. When in doubt, ask!

We look forward to welcoming you in Spring 2024!


Course Highlights


Thank You to Our Sponsors!

Sponsor our lab, course and program and help support the next generation of healthcare innovators! Sponsorship Information – Contact us at 2.75-admin@mit.edu



MIT News
Teaching mechanical engineering in a pandemic – September 2020
Just what the doctor ordered – February 2018
MIT students create new medical devices – January 2013

Smithsonian.com
When Doctors Need New Medical Tools, These Students Are Up To the Challenge – March 2018

IEEE Journal of Translational Engineering in Health and Medicine
Seven Steps to Innovation – December 2013
Classroom to Clinic: Merging Education and Research to Efficiently Prototype Medical Devices – August 2013