Biomedical Engineering Graduate Research Articles

Overview of Biomedical Engineering Graduate Education Landscape

Overview of Biomedical Engineering Graduate Education Landscape

A Practical Research Methods Course That Teaches How to Be a Successful Biomedical Engineering Graduate Student

Should your department offer a course on how to be a scientist and a successful graduate student? We offer this course at George Mason University as a mandatory part of the graduate curriculum, but this is not common practice for graduate biomedical engineering programs. Graduate education in biomedical engineering is evolving rapidly, with an increasing demand for fundamental research skills, interdisciplinary skills, and professional development. We believe that graduate students will be more successful in their research activities if they are explicitly taught these skills at the beginning of their graduate coursework. This paper describes the design of this course in our bioengineering department.

A biomedical engineering curriculum development: A qualitative study engaging four stakeholders

AbstractBiomedical engineering is critical in improving people's lives through innovative solutions to biological and medical challenges. In the face of today's rapidly evolving climate, the field of biomedical engineering encounters numerous pressures that demand up‐to‐date skills and competencies. The (re‐)development of curricula aligning with industry and societal needs, students' expectations, and academics' expertise while outlining graduates' knowledge (that) and abilities (how) becomes indispensable despite the challenges and complexities presented by conflicting priorities, tight timelines, and scarce resources. This paper presents a qualitative study conducted by a biomedical engineering graduate school at an Australian university. The study engaged four key stakeholders—industry partners, recent graduates, current academics, and students—in a self‐auditing process of an existing biomedical engineering curriculum. This exercise aimed to identify priorities for the future development of the curriculum. The findings reveal the perspectives from the four stakeholder groups, with industry partners and recent graduates focusing on technical and transferable skills and current students and academic staff advocating for breadth and a more practice‐oriented curriculum, where transdisciplinarity should inform biomedical engineering education. We propose that this evidence‐based and bottom‐up approach with multiple stakeholders holds potential implications for fields beyond biomedical engineering education. It provides valuable guidance to educational institutions seeking to (re‐)develop their curricula to align with evolving industry and society demands.

Leveraging an Open-Access Digital Design Notebook for Graduate Biomedical Engineering Education in Nigeria

Amidst the dual challenges of an eight-month university closure from nationwide public university strikes in Nigeria and the lingering impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, we needed to innovate the delivery of BME graduate curriculum to ensure graduate students continued to progress in their studies. To ensure BME graduate students were engaging in team-based, clinician-identified engineering design challenges, we developed a digital design notebook (DDN) using Google Sites as an open-access, collaborative tool for scaffolding and documenting the engineering design process. Student design teams remotely uploaded digital content documenting their project work onto scaffolded DDNs created by program instructors. DDNs were purposefully designed to shepherd students through the design process such that each phase of the design process corresponded to an editable “page” of the DDN. Video lectures, learning resources, assignments, and other program information were embedded into the DDN for students to access throughout their design challenge. Project mentors and program instructors remotely monitored and assessed students’ work using the DDN. At the end of the design challenge, students effectively created an e-portfolio which showcased the work they conducted to build a biomedical prototype. Designing and implementing the DDN builds on previous research which demonstrates that “structured” design notebooks can be used as effective tools in engineering design and design thinking education. Our work also leverages educational frameworks for infusing engineering design into existing graduate biomedical engineering curriculum in Nigeria.

Training and education of young physicians and engineers in the field of endoscopy and laparoscopy – a review of Germany-wide joint cooperation and training possibilities

Abstract Introduction: Application-related (hands-on) training and instruction is an essential component in the advanced education of physicians in residency. To teach and train required endoscopic examinations and interventions in a standardized manner, courses are offered by various societies. Within these courses the assistant endoscopists learn and train how to use the technical equipment and how to perform the examinations and related interventions. Similarly, for graduate biomedical engineering students with a job- or research-related interest in the field of endoand laparoscopy, an early involvement and practical introduction to the instrumentation and techniques - if possible already during their studies - can generate a fundamental understanding of the technical requirements as well needs of the physicians. Objective: As various such (hands-on) training-courses for flexible and rigid endoscopy specifically addressing young physicians, surgeons as well as engineers are offered by numerous institutes, this contribution tries do provide a structured overview on/over these possibilities. Material: Known cross-institutional courses in the field of endo- and laparoscopy currently offered in Germany in cooperation of physicians and engineers are listed and briefly described. Results: A total of n = 4 crossinstitutional courses for the introduction and training in flexible and rigid endoscopy have been identified. Discussion: The cross-institutional courses for physicians and technicians in the field of endo- and laparoscopy presented serve to provide a better understanding of the subject matter and the field of either discipline. Questions that arise in the field of endoscopy from physicians can be addressed at an early stage and, if necessary, worked on with little effort. Ideas for new instruments and even new interventions can arise and be pursued through an intensive exchange between technicians and physicians. Collaborations are established on a local basis which will foster national activities in this field and which allow to develop competencies relevant for the industrial sector of medical engineering.

Society Awards 2021.

Society Awards 2021.

Biomedical Engineering Professional Skills Development: The RADxSM Tech Impact on Graduates and Faculty.

There are many benefits of the RADxSM Tech initiative worth exploring beyond that of the current acceleration of diagnostic tests being developed and deployed to the nation. One of those benefits has been the impact on work readiness for recent biomedical engineering (BME) graduates who have been hired by RADx Tech as Assistant Project Facilitators (APFs) and to the students and faculty members on applicant teams. This paper includes a literature review of the current status of BME professional skills development in traditional academic and clinical settings. The organizational structure of RADx Tech teams is described, including how recent BME graduates are integral to the process. Opportunities are discussed on how the RADx Tech structural model can be leveraged to improve professional skills education. It is concluded that the RADx Tech organizational structure and process including APFs may be replicable. Further research is planned to explore its impact.

Fifty Years of Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Education.

Undergraduate education in biomedical engineering (BME) and bioengineering (BioE) has been in place for more than 50 years. It has been important in shaping the field as a whole. The early undergraduate programs developed shortly after BME graduate programs, as universities sought to capitalize on the interest of students and the practical advantages of having BME departments that could control their own resources and curriculum. Unlike other engineering fields, BME did not rely initially on a market for graduates in industry, although BME graduates subsequently have found many opportunities. BME undergraduate programs exploded in the 2000s with funding from the Whitaker Foundation and resources from other agencies such as the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering. The number of programs appears to be reaching a plateau, with 118 accredited programs in the United States at present. We show that there is a core of material that most undergraduates are expected to know, which is different from the knowledge base of other engineers not only in terms of biology, but in the breadth of engineering. We also review the role of important organizations and conferences in the growth of BME, special features of BME education, first placements of BME graduates, and a few challenges to address in the future.

Biomedical engineering undergraduate education: A Canadian perspective

Background With an aging population and increasing demand on health care systems, biomedical engineering as an undergraduate program fits a growing societal need. As such, many Canadian universities have implemented biomedical engineering undergraduate programs. This provides a unique opportunity for core engineering faculty, engineering education researchers, and curriculum specialists to implement proven educational theories in the core curriculum of these programs to ensure exemplary and competent Canadian-trained biomedical engineering graduates. Purpose This paper discusses the need for biomedical engineering as a core undergraduate program in Canada, the historical context of educational theories as related to biomedical undergraduate engineering education, a framework for the implementation of proven strategies, and learner-centric methods that benefit the learner, mentor, and society as a whole. Scope/method: The historical context of curriculum theories related to biomedical engineering undergraduate education, evaluation of the intrinsic and extrinsic curriculum theories in current biomedical engineering undergraduate education, educating progressive learners and development of future biomedical engineering undergraduate education curriculum, is explored. Conclusion The integration of educational theories in the development of a biomedical engineering undergraduate engineering education is essential to ensure learners are provided with opportunities to experience cutting edge, quality engineering education. Empirical evidence demonstrates the successful implementation of applied methodologies such as model-electing activities, problem-based learning, and the flipped classroom. Providing biomedical engineering faculty with professional development opportunities around the successfully implementation of these tools aimed at culturally diverse, globalized 21st-century learners, can be catalytic in shifting to a new paradigm for engineering education in Canada and globally.

Idea generation in biomedical engineering courses using Design Heuristics

ABSTRACTWith increasing demand for improved medical equipment and healthcare, next-generation biomedical engineers need strong design skills. Equipping biomedical engineering students with tools for idea generation and development can increase student design success. Design Heuristics are an ideation tool developed through empirical studies of product designs. While identified in the mechanical engineering space, Design Heuristics may be applicable in biomedical engineering design. In our study, we implemented a Design Heuristics session during upper-level undergraduate and first-year graduate biomedical engineering design courses. We examined the applicability of Design Heuristics within individual and team concept generation contexts. The findings demonstrated that biomedical engineering students were able to use Design Heuristics to generate multiple concepts, and that initial concepts produced using Design Heuristics were carried over into final team design. The results support the applicability of Design Heuristics to student idea generation in biomedical engineering design.

Perspective: The Fundamental Value of Engineering Pedagogy for Realizing Personalized Medicine

Fundamental benefits suggest that biomedical engineering and medicine should form a more convergent alliance, especially for the training of tomorrow’s physicians and biomedical engineers. Herein, we review the rationale underlying these benefits. Biological discovery has advanced beyond the era of molecular biology into the new, still largely uncharted era of molecular systems biology. The concomitant shift in focus toward understanding the fundamental rules and principles governing the behavior of complex living systems has important medical implications. To realize cost-effective personalized medicine, it is necessary to propagate the emerging advances in molecular systems biology to higher levels of biological organization that focus on organs, organ system, and whole organisms, and then to develop new, individualized medical therapeutics based on medical informatics and targeted computer simulations. To accomplish these goals, higher education in the biological and medical sciences must adapt to new training objectives. This adaptation must involve a shifting away from reductionist problem solving toward more integrative, systemic, and predictive modeling approaches that traditionally have been more associated with education in engineering. Future biomedical engineers and MDs must be able to predict clinical responses to therapeutic interventions. This necessity mandates that medical training must become more like engineering education, wherein future physicians are taught fundamental rules governing complex system behaviors and skill sets for manipulating these systems to achieve practically feasible, desired clinical outcomes. Correspondingly, graduate biomedical engineering programs must increase the students’ practical exposure to pressing clinical problems. The fundamental goal of medical intervention is to accomplish a sustained beneficial change in the behavior of a complex feedback-controlled homeostatic system (i.e., the patient). The direct and indirect responses of such systems to any substantial interventions are notoriously difficult to fathom by the unaided human mind, thus begging the question how modern science and engineering may help. There appears to be great potential for medical students to gain benefits from learning and engaging in models of engineering control systems applied to medical practice. A particularly powerful target domain is regenerative medicine, which is already accustomed to translating engineering concepts into medical advances. Tissue engineering, organoid development, and regenerative medicine are prime examples of promising new technologies that will ultimately require a grasp of fundamental bioengineering control theory, not simply for understanding how biological systems work, but also for envisioning how we can exert steady-state control in these living, adaptive systems. Here, we propose that near-future medical education should shift toward integrative analysis of system function and malfunction and toward the development of therapies utilizing control concepts. Such a shift will eventually make personalized medicine feasible, practical, and affordable, but requires a significant rethinking of existing pedagogical tools.

Assessing Wire Navigation Performance in the Operating Room

There are no widely accepted, objective, and reliable tools for measuring surgical skill in the operating room (OR). Ubiquitous video and imaging technology provide opportunities to develop metrics that meet this need. Hip fracture surgery is a promising area in which to develop these measures because hip fractures are common, the surgery is used as a milestone for residents, and it demands technical skill. The study objective is to develop meaningful, objective measures of wire navigation performance in the OR. Resident surgeons wore a head-mounted video camera while performing surgical open reduction and internal fixation using a dynamic hip screw. Data collected from video included: duration of wire navigation, number of fluoroscopic images, and the degree of intervention by the surgeon׳s supervisor. To determine reliability of these measurements, 4 independent raters performed them for 2 cases. Raters independently measured the tip-apex distance (TAD), which reflects the accuracy of the surgical placement of the wire, on all the 7 cases. University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, IA-a public tertiary academic center. In total 7 surgeries were performed by 7 different orthopedic residents. All 10 raters were biomedical engineering graduate students. The standard deviations for anteroposterior, lateral, and combined TAD measurements of the 10 raters were 2.7, 1.9, and 3.7mm, respectively, and interrater reliability produced a Cronbach α of 0.97. The interrater reliability analysis for all 9 video-based measures produced a Cronbach α of 0.99. Several video-based metrics were consistent across the 4 video reviewers and are likely to be useful for performance assessment. The TAD measurement was less reliable than previous reports have suggested, but remains a valuable metric of performance. Nonexperts can reliably measure these values and they offer an objective assessment of OR performance.

MioLab, a rat cardiac contractile force simulator: Applications to teaching cardiac cell physiology and biophysics

IntroductionUnderstanding the basic concepts of physiology and biophysics of cardiac cells can be improved by virtual experiments that illustrate the complex excitation–contraction coupling process in cardiac cells. The aim of this study is to propose a rat cardiac myocyte simulator, with which calcium dynamics in excitation–contraction coupling of an isolated cell can be observed. This model has been used in the course “Mathematical Modeling and Simulation of Biological Systems”. In this paper we present the didactic utility of the simulator MioLab®. MethodsThe simulator enables virtual experiments that can help studying inhibitors and activators in the sarcoplasmic reticulum sodium–calcium exchanger, thus corroborating a better understanding of the effects of medications, which are used to treat arrhythmias, on these compartments. The graphical interfaces were developed not only to facilitate the use of the simulator, but also to promote a constructive learning on the subject, since there are animations and videos for each stage of the simulation. The effectiveness of the simulator was tested by a group of graduate students. ResultsSome examples of simulations were presented in order to describe the overall structure of the simulator. Part of these virtual experiments became an activity for Biomedical Engineering graduate students, who evaluated the simulator based on its didactic quality. As a result, students answered a questionnaire on the usability and functionality of the simulator as a teaching tool. All students performed the proposed activities and classified the simulator as an optimal or good learning tool. In their written questions, students indicated as negative characteristics some problems with visualizing graphs; as positive characteristics, they indicated the simulator's didactic function, especially tutorials and videos on the topic of this study. ConclusionsThe results show that the simulator complements the study of the physiology and biophysics of the cardiac cell.

Rethinking Education: When surgeons and engineering students join forces to solve real problems, success follows.

The Engineers in Scrubs (EiS) training program at the University of British Columbia, affiliated with the Faculty of Applied Science?s Biomedical Engineering Graduate (BMEG) Program, is not a typical graduate school course. Nor does it follow a traditional master?s course rubric that culminates with a tidy end-of-year project. Rather, the course is designed to push students to prototype innovative medical devices, encourage health care collaborations, and create an unprecedented interface between technology and health care to further medicine.

Convolving Engineering and Medical Pedagogies for Training of Tomorrow's Health Care Professionals

Several fundamental benefits justify why biomedical engineering and medicine should form a more convergent alliance, especially for the training of tomorrow's physicians and biomedical engineers. Herein, we review the rationale underlying the benefits. Biological discovery has advanced beyond the era of molecular biology well into today's era of molecular systems biology, which focuses on understanding the rules that govern the behavior of complex living systems. This has important medical implications. To realize cost-effective personalized medicine, it is necessary to translate the advances in molecular systems biology to higher levels of biological organization (organ, system, and organismal levels) and then to develop new medical therapeutics based on simulation and medical informatics analysis. Higher education in biological and medical sciences must adapt to a new set of training objectives. This will involve a shifting away from reductionist problem solving toward more integrative, continuum, and predictive modeling approaches which traditionally have been more associated with engineering science. Future biomedical engineers and MDs must be able to predict clinical response to therapeutic intervention. Medical education will involve engineering pedagogies, wherein basic governing rules of complex system behavior and skill sets in manipulating these systems to achieve a practical desired outcome are taught. Similarly, graduate biomedical engineering programs will include more practical exposure to clinical problem solving.

Web-based neuromuscular simulator applied to the teaching of principles of neuroscience

INTRODUCTION: The learning of core concepts in neuroscience can be reinforced by a hands-on approach, either experimental or computer-based. In this work, we present a web-based multi-scale neuromuscular simulator that is being used as a teaching aid in a campus-wide course on the Principles of Neuroscience. METHODS: The simulator has several built-in individual models based on cat and human biophysics, which are interconnected to represent part of the neuromuscular system that controls leg muscles. Examples of such elements are i) single neurons, representing either motor neurons or interneurons mediating reciprocal, recurrent and Ib inhibition; ii) afferent fibers that can be stimulated to generate spinal reflexes; iii) muscle unit models, generating force and electromyogram; and iv) stochastic inputs, representing the descending volitional motor drive. RESULTS: Several application examples are provided in the present report, ranging from studies of individual neuron responses to the collective action of many motor units controlling muscle force generation. A subset of them was included in an optional homework assignment for Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering graduate students enrolled in the course cited above at our University. Almost all students rated the simulator as a good or an excellent learning tool, and approximately 90% declared that they would use the simulator in future projects. CONCLUSION: The results allow us to conclude that multi-scale neuromuscular simulator is an effective teaching tool. Special features of this free teaching resource are its direct usability from any browser (http://remoto.leb.usp.br/), its user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI) and the preset demonstrations.

Computed Tomography: Fundamentals, System Technology, Image Quality, Applications, 3rd revised and enlarged Edition

This book describes the evolution of computed tomography (CT) over four decades, projects into the future concerning new developments, explains the scientific and technological foundations of the imaging methodology, and provides examples of static and dynamic imaging with computed tomography. It describes the introduction and rapid development of CT in the 1970s, a rather static phase in the 80s, the onset of spiral CT in the 90s with the transition from single-slice scanning to volume scanning using multislice and cone-beam approaches, and the introduction of several innovations in the 2000s including newer detector systems, dual-source CT, and dual-energy scanning. Further developments predicted for the next few years are projected to potentially yield submillisievert scanning. The physics and engineering underlying each phase in the evolution of CT are nicely explained in the book. This book is intended as an explanation of the fundamentals of computed tomography for a wide audience, including but not limited to practicing and student medical physicists and biomedical engineers interested in medical imaging. It is a third and updated edition of a book that has encountered a very receptive audience for its previous editions. The book comes with a DVD of images and applications, video clips, and interactive exercises. The authors have provided considerable basic information in the appendices so that individuals with limited physics and engineering backgrounds can appreciate the book. As mentioned earlier, the book is entirely suitable for medical physicists and biomedical engineers, including students. The book should be required reading in medical physics and biomedical engineering graduate programs educating imaging scientists. Radiologists and radiographers specializing in CT will also find the book interesting and helpful in understanding the principles and evolution of computed tomography. The introduction and development of computed tomography has been a major tipping point in the evolution of medical imaging, and persons interested in this evolution will find the book enlightening. This third edition of Computed Tomography describes the evolution of computed tomography to its current state as an essential tool in medical imaging and image-guided interventional therapy. After a brief historical overview, the book provides a brief introduction to the principles of computed tomography (Chap. 1). Chapter 2 describes the technical concepts of CT in greater detail, Chap. 3 is devoted to spiral CT, and Chap. 4 covers the parameters and influences of image quality in computed tomography. Radiation dose from CT is considered in Chap. 5, together with ways that dose can be reduced by methods such as optimization of imaging protocols and use of technical features such as automatic exposure control and tube current modulation. Chapter 6 is devoted to CT image display, visualization, and diagnosis, and Chap. 7 describes special applications of CT, including cardiac and dual-energy imaging. New developments and projections for the future are covered in Chap. 8. For those interested in the mathematical aspects of image reconstruction, Chap. 9 is devoted to that topic. Appendices include a glossary, abbreviations and symbols, references, and an index. As mentioned earlier, a DVD of images and applications, video clips, and interactive exercises is included with the book. The book is printed on high quality paper and has superb and very informative illustrations. The book is easy to read and comprehend. This is a relatively short but superbly done introductory text on computed tomography. The author is a principal developer of multislice computed tomography and has contributed substantially over many years to CT development. The book should be required reading for graduate students in medical imaging and for biomedical engineering students with principal interests in medical imaging. It can be recommended also for radiologists and radiology residents who have a special interest in the science and technology underlying computed tomography. Radiographers responsible for computed tomography applications may find the book interesting even though the mathematics present in the text may extend beyond their reach. The book is written in a lucid and succinct manner, and the illustrations are excellent. The included DVD greatly enhances the educational value of the book. The ability of the author to explain recent advances and current developments in CT, and to expound on their future clinical importance, makes for interesting reading. The book deserves a wide audience, and one can only hope that it will receive substantial attention. Bill Hendee is Distinguished Professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin, Professor at Marquette University, and Adjunct Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, University of New Mexico, University of Colorado, and Mayo Clinic. He is past president of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine and current editor of Medical Physics.

High-Throughput Image Reconstruction and Analysis (Rao, A.R. and Cecchi, G.A.; 2009) [Book Reviews

This book explores how the coupling of high-performance computing (HPC) with automated imaging techniques can impact and further our understanding of complex biological systems and provides an integrated view of technology-driven capability in science, where HPC is used beneficially to create and analyze complex models gathered from large biological data sets. The book consists of four sections and 14 chapters. Each chapter was prepared by selected subject expert teams active in the research of respective topics with varying degree of balance between theoretic presentation and real-world case summation and overview. Overall, the book is quite extensive. It would make an excellent reference for bioinformatics or biomedical engineering graduate students, cell biologists, microscope manufacturers, HPC developers, and drug discovery professionals interested in learning about new perspectives in technology-driven clinical product development approach.

Developing teamwork skills in capstone design courses [Senior Design

The majority of our biomedical engineering graduates will eventually work in an industry where they will be part of multidisciplinary teams that use the collective skills, expertise, experience, and training of each team member. Diversity within these teams provides different perspectives, opinions, and ways of viewing problems, leading to a larger set of potential solutions. Successful careers require engineers to be able to function on multidisciplinary teams.

Medical Image Analysis with VTK: A Tutorial

This paper describes a new tutorial book titled “An Introduction to Programming for Medical Image Analysis with the Visualization Toolkit.” This book derived from a set of class handouts used in a biomedical engineering graduate seminar at Yale University. The goal for the seminar was to introduce the students to the Visualization Toolkit (VTK) and, to a lesser extent, the Insight Toolkit (ITK). A draft version of the complete book (including all the sample code) is available online at www.bioimagesuite.org/vtkbook.