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ALS 321: Medical Devices

Course Number: ALS 321
Course Name: Medical Devices
Year: First-year
Semester: Spring
No. Units: 1
Faculty/Instructor(s): Gail D. Baura

Description

This course presents an overview of medical devices through the years, from historic breakthroughs to more recently developed devices associated with areas of high job growth.  Each type of device is introduced by an appropriate tissue physiology lecture that facilitates understanding of how medical devices interface with the body.   In addition to two weekly lectures, three laboratory experiments introduce students to the following concepts and associated instrumentation: vital signs monitoring, pacemaker pulse generators and programmers, and ultrasound.   A group project enables the students to analyze startup device companies from a market perspective.  This course material provides a foundation for development of future medical device strategies.

Prerequisites

ALS 320

Topics Covered

• Cardiovascular devices
• Respiratory devices
• Temperature monitors
• Neural devices
• Imaging modalities
• Biomaterials
• Combination products

Learning Objectives

After completing this course, students should:

 

appreciate the rich history of the medical device literature.

understand the basic mechanisms underlying core medical devices.

be able to understand the theory behind monitoring the five vital signs: cardiac activity, blood pressure, respiration, temperature, and arterial saturation of oxygen.

be familiar with the high job growth areas in the medical device field: cardiovascular, neural engineering, imaging, orthopedic, and combination products.

Grading

Class Attendance & Discussion of Pre-assigned Readings     10%
Weekly quizzes                                                                               18%
Lab reports                                                                                      18%
Group project                                                                                  18%
Midterm                                                                                          18%
Final exam                                                                                18%

 

Required Texts

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