The School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems
Drexel University
BMES 480 Biomedical Lab III Syllabus
Instructor:
Dr. Peter A. Lewin, Commonwealth, 7th floor, room 727, x. 2361
Teaching Assistant:
Mr. Youhan Sunny and Mr.Chris Bawiec
Classes/lab sessions: Bossone 205.
Credits:
Prerequisites:
Grading
Textbook:
2
ECE 201 Basic Electrical Circuits
Labs and reports: 88%, active class participation: 12%
All 4 (four) labs must be completed and reported using a well conceived,
clearly presented and comprehensive lab report. Each lab counts for
22% . The final 12% will be assigned based on the active participation
in class discussions. There is a week grace period to hand in your lab report,
but please note, that to make TA’s life bearable, there will be a penalty –
up to 10% for late lab reports. Sorry, but please do not procrastinate. Thank
you
TBA, if needed, Four self-contained Laboratory Handouts
Objective:
The objective of this hands-on, laboratory course is to introduce biomedical engineering students
(with limited background in electronics and not necessarily considering it their favorite subject)
to fundamentals of electronic devices and instrumentation used in industrial, research and
clinical environment. It has been an intended objective to design set of experiments that would
be informative, yet attractive and fun, so that any possible apprehension that the students might
have about modern electronics will be eliminated and the students will be conduced to
experiment on their own. Special attention is also paid to motivate students to enhance their
knowledge of electrical engineering beyond the one required by biomedical engineering
curriculum by pointing out the importance of electronics in emerging biomedical applications
such as telemedicine. Another purpose is to enhance the students’ communication skills by
introducing them to key electronic terms so they will be able to bridge effectively the
communication gap between the engineering and clinical community. To amplify the
importance of student’s communication skills and strengthen their confidence with the modern
electronics, 4 self-contained handouts describing laboratory sessions (see below) and containing
description of simple circuits design and testing tasks, have been carefully prepared. Class
discussions include simple case studies, including practical circuits and further underscore the
need for understanding of basic electronic instrumentation
Lab sessions:
Four lab topics are carefully selected to encourage the students to realize the ubiquitous
importance of modern electronics in biomedical engineering applications. The first lab session
introduces semiconductor p-n junction as a diode and its applications and also stresses the
importance of operation of modern digital oscilloscopes as versatile measurement and
monitoring devices. The second session presents the basics of transistors and modern audio
amplifiers. The third and the fourth sessions are focusing on the importance of operational
amplifiers and their applications in active filter design. A brief introduction to wireless
telemedicine is presented in pre-lab class. Four laboratory handouts were prepared and they
include self-contained background for each of the 4 experiments, which will enable students with
a minimum electronics background to design the circuitry and carry out the experiments on their
own.
Expected outcome:
Upon completion of the course it is expected that the students’ knowledge of electronics and
their understanding of importance of electronic instrumentation in bioengineering practice will
be markedly enhanced. Also, their confidence level in operating modern laboratory equipment,
especially, digital oscilloscopes, function generators, and using LabView and associated software
tools will be greatly increased. It is also hoped that the students’ level of confidence will be
strengthened to the point that they will feel enthusiastic about the topic and will be willing to
probe further on their own. In particular the students will acquire:
1. Basic understanding of p-n and pnp junctions operation and their various applications,
including light indicators, voltage regulators, rectifiers of power outlets voltage delivered
via AC (alternating current), and signal amplification (pnp junctions = transistors).
2. Understanding that (audio) amplifiers are indispensable to drive current controlled
devices such as loudspeakers and printers and are also needed to provide separation
between front-end electronics and peripheral, graphic display devices.
3. Understanding of the fundamentals of operational amplifiers as one of the most
important building blocks in bioinstrumentation, particularly the importance and
advantages of using instrumentation amplifier in such basic applications as measurement
of ECG.
4. Understanding operation of active filters in such applications as anti-aliasing, and noise
suppression, especially critical in clinical environment.
5. General knowledge of state-of-the art of modern electronics including its potential in
microminiaturization of biomedically relevant devices such as pace makers and other active
implants.
Topic outlines and scheduling.
Weeks
1.
Introduction and review
2&3
Lab 1 - “Fundamentals of operation of active devices - diodes”
4&5
Lab 2 “101 of pnp junctions and the importance of (audio) amplifiers”
6&7
Lab 3 “The ubiquitous operational amplifiers”
8&9
Lab 4 “The art of filtering signals”
9&10
Possible make – ups
Review and preparation of the reports – all reports are to be handed by this
time.
11
Review – Have I learned anything? Have I enjoyed it? –
Possible comments for future improvements –
What now, where do we go from here?