Course Detail

This course provides in-depth exposure to cardiovascular and imaging devices.  Building on the foundation laid by ALS 321 lectures and labs, students review the theory behind the five ALS 321 labs (cardiograph, pacemaker programming, vital signs monitoring, echocardiography, surface characterization) and act as teaching assistants during their delivery.  Through development and verification group projects, they extend these lab concepts.  First, students develop software code to filter the cardiograph data and detect electrocardiogram (ECG) and respiration beats using wavelets.  Second, students program a patient simulator to reproduce a provided ECG trace, and then biventricular pacing therapy to this “patient”.  Individually, students learn echocardiography from an American College of Cardiology CD-ROM, and are tested on their knowledge.  The course is run as a series of product development projects, with the instructor acting as a product development manager and students expected to achieve weekly milestones.

For Spring 2008 only, students learn the electroencephalogram signal processing behind Aspect Medical’s bispectral index, and examine company business strategy.  This lecture is intended to supplement the BrainScope Team Master’s Project.

Required Texts & Materials
Baura, Gail (2007) A Biosystems Approach to Industrial Patient Monitoring & Diagnostic Devices, Synthesis Lectures on Biomedical Engineering, Morgan & Claypool, San Rafael, CA.  Please download this e-book through the CUC Libraries website.

Dubin, Dale (2000) Rapid Interpretation of EKGs, ed. 6, Cover Publishing: Tampa, FL.

American College of Cardiology (2006), Echocardiography Self Assessment Program 5, ACC, Washington, DC.  Access from designated computer in computer lab.

Frequency selective filters
Pattern recognition using wavelets & diagnosis
ECG physiology
Echocardiography theory

After completing this course, students should:

• be familiar with a typical medical device product development work environment.
• appreciate the signal processing algorithms within patient monitoring devices.
• recognize the importance of software verification.
• understand echocardiography and basic diagnoses.

Teaching assistant attendance & instruction  25%
Detection accuracy of test waveform  25%
Accuracy of pacemaker patient simulation conditions  25%
Echocardiography exam  25%