Biosignals and Instrumentation

Key faculty: Taimoor Afzal, Dirk Albrecht, Brenton Faber, Songbai Ji, Solomon Mensah, Karen Troy, Haichong “Kai” Zhang, Shijie Zhou

Courses:

BME 2210- Biomedical Signals, Instruments And Measurements
BME 2211- Biomedical Data Analysis
BME 3012- Biomedical Sensors Laboratory
BME 3013- Biomedical Instrumentation Laboratory
BME 3014- Signal Processing Laboratory
BME 4011- Biomedical Signal Analysis
BME 4023- Biomedical Instrumentation Design
BME 4201- Biomedical Imaging

» Sensors and Instrumentation Sub-Track:

Modern health care relies heavily on a large array of sophisticated medical instrumentation and sensors to diagnose health problems, to monitor patient condition and administer therapeutic treatments, most often in a non-invasive or minimally invasive manner. During the past decade, computers have become an essential part of modern bioinstrumentation, from the microprocessor in a single-purpose wearable instrument used to achieve a variety of small tasks to more sophisticated desktop instruments needed to process the large amount of clinical information acquired from patients. The Biomedical Instrumentation track is focused on training students to design, test, and use sensors and biomedical instrumentation to further enhance the quality of health care. Emphasis is placed both on understanding the physiological systems involved in the generation of the measured variable or affected by therapeutic equipment, as well as the electrical engineering principles of biomedical sensors and biomedical devices.

Examples:

Specialized instrumentation for genetic testing
Electrocardiography to measure the electrical activity of the heart, brain, or muscles
Mechanical respirators
Cardiac pacemakers
Defibrillators
Artificial Organs
Heart-lung machines
Pulse oximeters
Drug infusion and insulin pumps
Electrosurgical equipment
Anesthesia equipment
Kidney dialysis machines
Artificial electronic prosthetics used by disabled people (e.g. hearing aids)\
Laser systems for surgery