Software Aids for Biomedical Engineering
Design Courses1
Paul H. King2, Paul Clayton3
Abstract - This paper will introduce and
discuss several examples of software packages
and their place in the teaching of design in
Biomedical Engineering.
Students at the freshman level would be expected
to report design results at least through e-mail
methods. Most are capable, given minimal
training, of reporting results on web pages.
Key words - Design, software, teaching
As students come in to a first course with better
preparation, it is suggested that use of a database
program also be included in the design course.
Suggested programs would include Microsoft
Access or Cold Fusion5.
Given sufficient
exposure, freshmen are capable of elementary
web-database design as is the thrust of Cold
Fusion.
I.
INTRODUCTION
Paralleling the growth of the field of Biomedical
Engineering has been the growth of software aids
as the personal computer has become a
mandatory addition to our teaching tool kits.
This paper will review some current
recommendations for software aids in the
teaching of design based upon several years of
use in a senior design course at Vanderbilt.
Brand names mentioned are for illustrative
purposes and do not especially imply
endorsement of a particular product.
II. INTRODUCTORY COURSES
At the freshman level, and throughout the
curriculum, at least the following tools are
mandated: an e-mail package, for basic
communication purposes, a word processing
package, a spreadsheet program, a web browser
with a decent search engine, and any good web
page-authoring system. Microsoft Office 4, with
either Netscape or Microsoft Explorer and a
good search engine should be adequate. The
addition of FrontPage is a low cost addition if
one buys the Office suite. Search engines such
as Yahoo and Hotbot are readily available, but
search engines that utilize multiple other search
engines, such as GO Network Express Search
engine are far more useful. With the above
software most freshman design courses can be
comprehensive in coverage, given the technical
level of the students. A word of warning,
however, a good virus protection program with
regular updates will prove mandatory, as a
common occurrence will be the mailing of
viruses as attachments to homework problems.
III.
UPPER LEVEL COURSES
By the senior year, if not before, recommended
additional packages include project planning
software and flowcharting software for process
documentation. Such software would include
either or both Microsoft Project and Micrografx
FlowCharter6. Project, available for purchase or
evaluation download, can be used to augment
instruction in and planning of projects.
FlowCharter is of value in outlining the course of
action in a process and is therefore useful as both
a documentation and training tool.
By the senior level, the use of a database
package is mandatory for documentation of
revision levels, parts lists, and standards
documentation. Using blinded patient databases
we have in addition demonstrated the use of
databases for the development of search
strategies relevant to patient care. For those
students whose design project involves Medical
Informatics, the decision as to which tool to use
(Access or Cold Fusion based) is very important.
Specialized packages, such as designsafe7 – for
safety analyses of devices and processes, FMEA
analysis – for failure mode analyses, and QFD
designer - for quality/function/deployment
applications are recommended as courses
become more specialized. Use of the program
designsafe was stressed in my teaching this year.
It enables one to analyze a product or process in
a fairly structured fashion, ending with a
documentation of the current state of safety and
safety "fixes" on the device or process. Such a
ranking ranges from "guard against" to "design
out."
All students this year had to do two exercises
with designsafe, one a group effort, one
individual. The group effort required students to
investigate a device failure, as reported in the
FDA database MAUDE, which resulted in a
death. Students were to analyze the device and
report on the failure mode, and suggest means of
correction of the failure.
Devices studied
included bed side rails, oxygen regulators,
pacemakers, and glucose test strips.
For
individual projects the students were permitted to
analyze any device that caused harm or injury.
Projects included analyses of drink dispensing
machines, hand rails, ovens, cribs, lasers, and
wheelchair release belts.
Students did a
reasonable, thoughtful, and comprehensive
analysis of device faults in a variety of areas
using this software.
One of the requirements for each design project
reported in our senior design course is that
students do a safety analysis of their device or
process if appropriate. Designsafe has enabled
students to do a complete job of this each year.
search of either or both the US Patent Office
listing or the Japanese Patent Office listings.
One may purchase a subset of TechOptimizer,
KnIS (knowledge and information server) which
will do the web and patent searches only. It is
recommended by the company that one purchase
a small number of the larger program and a
sufficient quantity of the KnIS. KnIS is also
recommended as a purchase for any group
interested in Intellectual Property, be it a design
group or your Technology Transfer Office.
V. CONCLUSIONS
There exists a minimum level of computer
support that can be suggested for use in
Biomedical Engineering Design courses. Most
of this software has become available in the past
several years as personal computers have
become more prevalent. It is recommended that
if one can afford them, that they become
incorporated in such instruction.
1
This work was supported in part by the
Engineering Research Centers Program of the
National Science Foundation under Award
Number EEC-9876363
2
IV. SENIOR/ADVANCED DESIGN
Recommendations for senior or graduate design
aids include software such as Working Model 2D and 3-D modeler8 for motion analysis and
trajectory modeling. CAD software such as
SolidWorks9 or Think310 is recommended for
design layouts, if the students have had
introductory courses in the use of such software,
or have the time to learn it as needed. Given
sufficient preparation, prototypes from these
packages can be generated and tested.
11
The program TechOptimizer
is strongly
recommended for advanced level design courses,
if one can afford the license cost. TechOptimizer
will guide one through and assist in the design
process, once sufficient time is spent learning
how to use the software. Options in the use of
the software are routines that guide one through
product or process analysis, evaluation of feature
transfers, and generation of similar effect
listings. At a bare minimum, this program can
be used to do both a general web search using a
logical Boolean search, and to do a similar patent
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Vanderbilt University
Nashville TN 37235
Paul.h.king@vanderbilt.edu
3
Address above, email:
Fredrick.p.clayton@vanderbilt.edu
4
Microsoft Corp, Redmond WA
5
Allaire Corp., Cambridge MA
6
Micrografx, Inc. Richardson TX
7
Design Safety Engineering, Ann Arbor MI
8
Knowledge Revolution, San Mateo CA
9
SolidWorks Corp, Concord MA
10
Think3, Santa Clara CA
11
Invention Machine Corp., Boston MA