Biomedical Engineering

GENERAL The aim of the course is to provide students with practical skills for carrying out functional and compliance tests on electronic devices in general and, in particular, on medical electrical equipment. Furthermore, the course aims to provide the basic information allowing to understand what are the main electrical quantities measurable on the human body, what are their clinical and diagnostic applications, and how medical electrical equipment devoted to their measurement is designed. SPECIFIC KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING. The course aims at providing the basic knowledge needed to perform electrical and electronic measurements, with particular emphasis on measurements relevant to the biomedical field. Specific emphasis is given to measurement for electronic device testing and to electro-physiological measurements. The most recent measurement techniques based on impedance spectroscopy are discussed. APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING. The theoretical part of the course is completed and complemented by a series of laboratory experiments which allows the student to put into practice the concepts learnt and to acquire the fundamental skills for developing simple electrical medical instruments and for performing the basic measurements encountered in the field of biomedical engineering. Moreover, the basic concepts concerning the programming and management of virtual instrumentation are applied, developing user interfaces for processing and presentation of physiological signals. MAKING JUDGEMENTS. Laboratory activities aim at allowing the student to make autonomous judgements; the actual autonomy reached by the student is assessed by means of a specific practical session during the final examination. The student gets acquainted with solving new problems in realistic experimental scenarios. COMMUNICATION SKILLS. The experimental activities include group work, which enhances the student communication skills and interaction capabilities. The oral examination enhances the student capabilities to communicate his/her knowledge. Moreover, student must redact a written technical report concerning the development of a biomedical instrument. LEARNING SKILLS. The didactic paradigm of the course urges the student to autonomously acquire new technical knowledge, related to the course syllabus, mainly as a result of the problem solving approach of experimental activities. The teaching material, reach of literature references, develops autonomous study capabilities.