Course Descriptions

Department of Biomedical Engineering

Professors G.L.Coté (Head), J. D. Humphrey, W.A.Hyman, J. E. Moore, Jr., K. R. Rajagopal, L. Wang, S. M. Wright, H.Wu; Associate Professor C.S.Lessard; Assistant Professors J. C. Criscione, M. A. Grunlan, W. Hwang, A. Jayaraman, R. R. Kaunas, K. E. Meissner, C. M. Quick, A. T. Yeh

Biomedical Engineering
(BMEN)

101. Introduction to Biomedical Engineering. (1-0). Credit 1. I

Overview of biomedical engineering and the biomedical engineering industry, including specialties, degree requirements and scholastic programs in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Prerequisite: Freshman or sophomore classification.

240. Biosolid Mechanics. (3-0). Credit 3. II

Introduction into the mechanics of deformable media important in biomechanics, including biomaterials and biological tissues with an emphasis on mechanobiology and the formation of biological problems within the context of 1) kinematics including displacements, rotation, strains, 2) the concept of stress, 3) equilibrium, 4) constitutive relations, and 5) boundary conditions. Prerequisites: Admitted to major degree sequence in biomedical engineering; BMEN 241.

241. Foundations of Biomechanics. (3-0). Credit 3. I

Foundations of mechanics in addressing biomedical problems, including introductions to mechanobiology and mechanically and thermally based clinical treatments emphasizing the development of associated mathematical preliminaries and basic concepts of thermomechanics, including 1) vectors, tensors, and matrices, 2) kinematics including displacement, rotation, acceleration, deformation gradients and velocity gradients, 3) concepts of stress and heat-flux, 4) equations of motion, and 5) constitutive relations. Prerequisite: Admitted to major degree sequence in biomedical engineering.

285. Directed Studies. Credit 1 to 4.

Permits students to undertake special projects in biomedical engineering at an earlier point in their studies than required for BMEN 485. Prerequisite: Approval of program chair.

289. Special Topics in... Credit 1 to 4.

Selected topics in an identified area of biomedical engineering. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.

291. Research. Credit 1 to 4.

Research conducted under the direction of faculty member in biomedical engineering. May be repeated 2 times for credit. Prerequisites: Freshman or sophomore classification and approval of instructor.

302. Biomechanics. (3-0). Credit 3. II

Stress and strain in biological systems and medical devices; properties of biomedical engineering materials and design of related equipment. Prerequisites: VTPP 434; Corequisites: MATH 308; VTPP 435.

305. Bioinstrumentation. (0-3). Credit 1. I

Introduction to biomedical instrumentation design; hands on acquisition of biomedical signals; design, building and testing of bioinstrumentation circuits including analog signal amplifiers and analog filter circuits. Prerequisites: ECEN 214, VTPP 434 and 435; junior or senior classification.

306. Biomeasurements Lab. (0-3). Credit 1. II

Introduction into experimental methods useful in biomedical engineering; includes the role of empiricism in biomedical research and development; the differences between observation and experimentation; and how to acquire, reduce, interpret, and present data. Prerequisites: BMEN 240 and 341.

308. Biomedical Electronics. (2-3). Credit 4. I

Introduction to basic circuit analysis; characteristics of linear and non-linear circuit elements, design of basic electronic circuits and principles in biomedical engineering and practice of bioelectronic measurements. Prerequisites: ECEN 214; VTPP 434 and 435.

309. Signal Processors for Biomedical Measurements. (3-3). Credit 4. II

Design and application of analog and digital signal processors in biomedical engineering; characteristics of operational amplifiers and selected special purpose integrated circuits; design considerations for analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog circuitry. Prerequisites: BMEN 308; VTPP 434 and 435.

310. Clinical Engineering. (3-0). Credit 3. II

Equipment control concepts and techniques and their application in hospitals and in the medical profession; device evaluation specifications; preventative maintenance and service; calibration, regulation and medical product liability. Prerequisite: BMEN 321.

321. Biomedical Electronics. (3-0). Credit 3. I

Introduction to biomedical signals; basic circuit analysis for biomedical signals; design of bioamplifier circuits; characteristics of linear and nonlinear circuit elements; design of basic electronic circuits, principles and practice of bioelectronic measurements. Prerequisites: ECEN 214, VTPP 434 and 435; junior or senior classification.

322. Biosignal Analysis. (3-0). Credit 3. II

Design and application of analog and digital signal analysis in biomedical engineering; characteristics of biomedical signals; design considerations for analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog circuitry; biosignal transformation methods; analog and digital filter design for biomedical signals. Prerequisites: BMEN 321, VTPP 434 and 435; junior or senior classification.

331. Theoretical Analysis. (3-0). Credit 3. I

Equations and numerical analysis techniques important to the description of living systems and medical devices; solution alternatives and limitations. Prerequisite: MATH 308.

341. Biofluid Mechanics. (3-0). Credit 3. I

Introduction into the mechanics of fluids in biomechanics, including blood, synovial fluid and physiological solutions, with an emphasis on the importance of mechanobiology and the formation of biological problems within the context of 1) kinematics, 2) the concept of stress, 3) linear momentum balance, 4) constitutive relations, and 5) boundary conditions. Prerequisites: BMEN 240; junior or senior classification.

342. Biomaterials and Medical Devices. (3-0). Credit 3. II

Selection and use of materials in implantable and tissue contacting medical devices; mass transport in medical devices; regulation and testing of medical devices. Prerequisites: VTPP 435 and BMEN 341; junior or senior classification.

343. Introduction to Biomaterials. (3-0). Credit 3. I

Properties of natural and man-made materials commonly encountered in biomedicine and biomedical engineering; an integrated approach in the presentation of material structures, characteristics and properties; the basics of material structures, including crystalline and chemical structure, and microstructure; and bulk properties and characteristics of the materials developed from the microscopic origins. Prerequisites: BMEN 240, MATH 308, PHYS 208 and junior or senior classification.

401. Principles and Analysis of Biological Control Systems. (3-0). Credit 3. I

Techniques for generating quantitative mathematical models of physiological control systems and devices; the behavior of physiological control systems using both time and frequency domain methods. Prerequisites: BMEN 308; MATH 308; VTPP 434 and 435.

405. Virtual Instrumentation Design for Medical Systems. (2-3). Credit 3.

Design of medical systems using graphics programming language of LabVIEW including the designing and programming of three virtual systems as follows: cardiac monitor, electromyogram system for biomechanics, and sleep stage analyses from electroencephalograms. Prerequisites: BMEN 321 and 322.

410. Advanced Clinical Engineering. (2-3). Credit 3. I

Training in clinical engineering through hospital-based experience in medical systems technical knowledge, clinical engineering management, technology assessment, and hospital management. Prerequisite: BMEN 310.

420. Medical Imaging. (3-0). Credit 3. I

The principles of the major imaging modalities including x-ray radiography, x-ray computed tomography (CT), ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging; including a brief discussion on other emerging imaging technologies such as nuclear imaging (PET and SPECT). Prerequisites: MATH 253; junior or senior classification.

421. Biofluid Dynamics. (3-0). Credit 3. I

Biofluid dynamics; derivation of mass and momentum equations; analysis of fluid motion in biomedical engineering systems; dimensional analysis; application of turbulence and boundary layer analysis in biomedical engineering. Prerequisites: BMEN 240; MATH 308; VTPP 434 and 435.

422. Biomaterials and Artificial Internal Organs. (3-0). Credit 3. I

Current practice of material selection and design of artificial internal organs including orthopedic, cardiovascular and other implant applications. Regulations, standards and testing. Prerequisites: BMEN 240; VTPP 434 and 435.

423. Microscale Bio-Optic Applications. (3-0). Credit 3.

Introduction to biomedical applications of lasers to manipulation, detection and visualization on (sub-) cellular length scales; emphasis on the governing principles on which applications are founded; includes applications from recent literature. Prerequisites: BMEN 306 and 322; junior or senior classification.

424. Biomedical Sensing and Imaging at the Nanoscale. (3-0). Credit 3.

Introduction to nanotechnology with an emphasis on biomedical techniques and medical applications; basic physics of contrast agents to the engineering of current sensing and imaging systems applied at the nanoscale. Prerequisite: Senior classification or approval of instructor.

430. Medical Device Regulation. (3-0). Credit 3.

Introduction to the regulations of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration pertaining to testing and marketing medical devices. Prerequisites: BMEN 310; junior or senior classification.

431. Thermodynamics of Biomolecular Systems. (3-0). Credit 3.

Introduces equilibrium and non-equilibrium statistical mechanics and applies them to understand various biomolecular systems; including ensemble theory, reaction kinetics, nonlinear dynamics and stochastic processes; applied examples such as enzyme-ligand binding kinetics, conformational dynamic of proteins and nucleic acids, population dynamics, and noise in biological signals. Prerequisites: BMEN 240, PHYS 208 and MATH 308.

432. Molecular and Cellular Biomechanics. (3-0). Credit 3.

Introduces biomolecules and their assemblies that play structural and dynamical roles in subcellular to cellular level mechanics; emphasis on quantitative/theoretical descriptions; discussions of the relevant experiment approaches to probe these nano to micro-scale phenomena; includes topics in self-assembly of cytoskeleton and biomembranes, molecular motors, cell motility, and mechanotransduction. Prerequisites: BMEN 240, MATH 304; junior or senior classification.

440. Design of Medical Devices. (3-0). Credit 3.

Overview of the multiple issues in designing a marketable medical device, including the design process from clinical problem definition through prototype and clinical testing to market readiness; includes FDA regulation, human factors and system safety considerations and medical product liability. Prerequisites: BMEN 342; senior classification in engineering.

441. Analysis and Design Project I. (0-9). Credit 3. I, II, S

Individual or group biomedical engineering analysis and design project involving problem statement, alternative approaches for solution, specific system analysis and design. Prerequisites: BMEN 322 and 341.

442. Analysis and Design Project II. (0-9). Credit 3. I, II, S

Continuation of BMEN 441. Prerequisite: BMEN 441 or 453.

450. Case Studies. (1-0). Credit 1. II

Examines process through which clinically defined problems are addressed from the perspective of biomedical engineering through the use of case studies; includes issues of technology transfer and clinical evaluation. Prerequisites: BMEN 240, 305 and 342; junior or senior classification.

452. Mass and Energy Transfer in Biosystems. (3-0). Credit 3. II

Transport phenomena associated with physiological systems and their interaction with medical devices; exchange processes in artificial life support systems and diagnostic equipment. Prerequisites: BMEN 341; MATH 308; VTPP 334 and 335.

453. Analysis and Design Project I. (2-0). Credit 2. I, II, S

Group or team biomedical engineering analysis and design project involving statement, alternative approaches for solution, specific system analysis and design. Prerequisites: BMEN 321, 322 and 342; senior classification.

454. Analysis and Design Project II. (2-0). Credit 2. I, II, S

Continuation of BMEN 453. Prerequisites: BMEN 321, 322, 342 and 453; senior classification.

460. Vascular Mechanics. (3-0). Credit 3.

Application of continuum mechanics to the study of the heart arteries; emphasis on the measurement and quantification of material properties, and the calculation of vascular stresses; analysis of several cardiovascular devices to reinforce the need for careful analysis in the device design. Prerequisites: BMEN 240 and 421.

461. Cardiac Mechanics. (3-0). Credit 3.

Application of continuum mechanics and computational solid mechanics to the study of the mammalian heart; utilization of continuum mechanics and finite element analysis in solving non-linear boundary value problems in biomechanics. Prerequisites: BMEN 240, 341, and 463; approval of instructor.

462. Vascular Fluid Mechanics. (3-0). Credit 3.

Bio-fluid mechanics of the human circulatory system including examination of disease development and medical treatments. Prerequisites: BMEN 240 or equivalent; junior or senior classification.

463. Soft Tissue Mechanics and Finite Element Methods. (3-0). Credit 3.

Application of continuum mechanics and finite element methods to the study of the mechanical behavior of soft tissues and associative applications in biomedicine. Prerequisites: BMEN 240 or equivalent; junior or senior classification.

468. Biothermomechanics. (3-0). Credit 3.

Introduction to a continuum thermomechanics approach to quantifying soft tissue behavior in response to combined thermal and mechanical loads including thermoelasticity and thermal damage. Prerequisites: BMEN 240 and 341; junior or senior classification.

469. Entrepreneurial Issues in Biomedical Engineering. (3-0). Credit 3. I.

Description and analysis of issues associated with initiating business ventures to transfer biomedical technologies into the health care sector, including intellectual property protection, seed funding alternatives, and business strategies relevant to the biomedical engineering technology area; utilizing recent case studies of previous ventures. Prerequisite: Admitted to major degree sequence (upper-level) in biomedical engineering.

470. Introduction of Biomedical Optics. (3-0). Credit 3.

Fundamentals of biomedical optics; basic engineering principles used in optical therapeutics, optical diagnostics and optical biosensing. Prerequisites: MATH 308; PHYS 208. Cross-listed with CHEN 470.

480. Biomedical Engineering of Tissues. (3-0). Credit 3.

Introduction to aspects of tissue engineering with and emphasis placed on tissue level topics including tissue organization and biological processes, with insights from recent literature (state-of-the-art). Prerequisite: Admitted to major degree sequence (upper-level) in biomedical engineering.

482. Polymeric Biomaterials. (3-0). Credit 3. 

Preparation, properties, and biomedical applications of polymers including:  polymerization; structure-property relationships; molecular weight and measurement; morphology; thermal transitions; network formation; mechanical behavior; polymetric surface modification; polymer biocompatibility and bioadhesion; polymers in medicine, dentistry, and surgery; polymers for drug delivery; polymeric hydrogels; and biodegradable polymers.  Prerequisite:  BMEN 342 or approval of instructor; junior or senior classification.

485. Directed Studies. Credit 1 to 6. I, II, S

Permits students to undertake special projects in biomedical engineering. Prerequisite: Approval of program chair.

489. Special Topics in... Credit 1 to 4. I, II, S

New or unique areas of biomedical engineering which are of interest to biomedical engineering and other undergraduate students.

491. Research. Credit 1 to 4.

Research conducted under the direction of faculty member in biomedical engineering. May be repeated 2 times for credit. Prerequisites: Junior or senior classification and approval of instructor.