The current complex socio-economic environments due to fiscal constraints pose severe challenges worldwide for making technological advances working alone by academia or by industry. Effective academia-industry collaborations can be meaningful avenues for technological advancements, productivity and revenue generation as well as for promoting professional growth and educating future engineers globally. The above explanations apply to all engineering domains including biomedical engineering. The objective of the paper is to explore multifaceted academia industry partnerships, their benefits and challenges, and to make suggestions for successful outcomes. The results based on several case histories support the formation of carefully planned academia industry partnerships to yield significant benefits to all the constituent members.

Applications of Medical imaging in clinical diagnostics and image-guided surgery have been increasing at rapid rates. This contributes greater demand for BME graduates including the ones at undergraduate level. It appears medical imaging is not taught at the undergraduate level at many BME programs, thus triggering the need to consider developing an appropriate undergraduate medical imaging and optics course. Teaching undergraduate level medical imaging and optics is more challenging compared to the one at the graduate level due to unavailability of proper level textbooks, lab modules and equipment accessibility. This paper features the theoretical segments taught in such a course and highlights the pedagogy and techniques used to teach a medical imaging and optics course in undergraduate BME programs, as well as the interesting projects and other course requirements associated with it.

The use of wearable devices in health applications is not only being utilized in illness, it is also a major area of interest in fitness. Wearable devices for fitness tracking are available to consumers and can measure and calculate important fitness data trends based on movement and physiological parameters. Accelerometers are the sensors that provide information on the movement parameters of step count and distance. It is understood to obtain a distance measurement, there must be information provided about the step-to-step length but these devices typically only measure step count, and do provide the step-to-step length. The step-to-step length is based on the user's height which is input into the settings, allowing for the calculation of the distance. The intention of this study is to introduce a preliminary experiment to evaluate two different devices -- the Fitbit Flex and the Polar Loop -- for distance measurement methods, based on the step-to-step length values determined from collected device data. One measurement method uses a default stride length while the other method uses a stride speed algorithm. The step-to-step values for each device were compared to an experimental ground truth value for accuracy, which was used as a pilot for comparing the initial device data. In this preliminary study, the default stride length method provided a more accurate method for measuring the distance. A subsequent study is expected to be performed with more participants and parameters, which will be more suitable for providing a better comparison between the two devices against a ground truth.

For undergraduate programs in biomedical engineering (BME), a comprehensive base of multiple disciplines required for BME studies on campus has been a big challenge, the Industry Professional Advisory Committee members usually recommend incorporating experiential learning modules of co-op or internship in the curriculum. Embedding cooperative modules within the undergraduate BME educational program is aimed to assist students in gaining the highly valuable real-life experience. The internship modules facilitate the students in exploring different realistic aspects of the complex work processes in the biomedical engineering field. It must be emphasized that different countries follow different models for BME education. At the international level, the developers of the BME curriculum find the inclusion of internship experience or internship with a heavy course load in the program a formidable challenge. Having a single model is not likely to work in different countries. The main objective of the present work is to develop cooperative experiential learning models for BME undergraduate students that can be applied internationally and to propose multiple partner organizations to host the co-op. In this paper, designs of a few coop/internship models embedded in the undergraduate BME curriculum and an innovative array of co-op hosting organizations are described. The results obtained clearly support the proposed co-op/internship scheme. In conclusion, integrating the internship experience will be of significant value in biomedical engineering education by giving opportunities for reallife work experience to the students. For sustained success at the international level, it is essential that a suitable model must be selected to blend with the mission of the overall training program at the academic institution.

Technological advances are embedded in multiple disciplines causing positive societal impacts particularly in healthcare delivery such as robotic applications. Patient community has become receptive to robot-assisted procedures, especially hysterectomies. While the number of robotassisted hysterectomy procedures is increasing, there are still some safety concerns. The objective of this paper is to review the designs of robots used to assist in hysterectomies, analyze the performance and failures of robot-assisted systems, and propose recommendations for enhancing

Undergraduate biomedical engineering (BME) programs have increased considerably and the drives for continuous improvement of the programs persist. While covering a comprehensive base of multiple disciplines required for BME studies on campus has been a big challenge, the Industry Professional Advisory Committee members usually recommend incorporating experiential learning modules of coop or internship in the curriculum. Embedding cooperative modules within the undergraduate BME educational program is aimed to assist students in gaining the highly valuable reallife experience. The cooperative work modules facilitate the students in exploring different realistic aspects of the complex work processes in the biomedical engineering field. The values of the cooperative learning modules are recognized by the academicians. However, the developers of the BME curriculum find the inclusion of cooperative work experience or internship with a heavy course load in the program a formidable challenge. The main objective of the present work is to develop few cooperative experiential learning models for BME undergraduate students. Some variations in the models can be applied to graduate students though the constraints are different. In this paper, designs of a few co-op/internship models embedded in the undergraduate BME curriculum are described. A BME Co-op model with three phases at a teaching hospital is illustrated. Other models of one semester at a medical device company or at an academic research lab are mentioned. The results obtained clearly support the proposed co-op/internship scheme. In conclusion, integrating the cooperative work experience will be of significant value in biomedical engineering education by giving opportunities for real-life work experience to the students. For sustained success, it is essential that a suitable model must be selected to blend with the mission of the overall training program at the academic institution.

There is a proliferation of medical devices across the globe for the diagnosis and therapy of diseases. Biomedical engineering (BME) plays a significant role in healthcare and advancing medical technologies thus creating a substantial demand for biomedical engineers at undergraduate and graduate levels. There has been a surge in undergraduate programs due to increasing demands from the biomedical industries to cover many of their segments from bench to bedside. With the requirement of multidisciplinary training within allottable duration, it is indeed a challenge to design a comprehensive standardized undergraduate BME program to suit the needs of educators across the globe. This paper's objective is to describe three major models of undergraduate BME programs and their curricular requirements, with relevant recommendations to be applicable in institutions of higher education located in varied resource settings. Model 1 is based on programs to be offered in large research-intensive universities with multiple focus areas. The focus areas depend on the institution's research expertise and training mission. Model 2 has basic segments similar to those of Model 1, but the focus areas are limited due to resource constraints. In this model, co-op/internship in hospitals or medical companies is included which prepares the graduates for the work place. In Model 3, students are trained to earn an Associate Degree in the initial two years and they are trained for two more years to be BME's or BME Technologists. This model is well suited for the resource-poor countries. All three models must be designed to meet applicable accreditation requirements. The challenges in designing undergraduate BME programs include manpower, facility and funding resource requirements and time constraints. Each academic institution has to carefully analyze its short term and long term requirements. In conclusion, three models for BME programs are described based on large universities, colleges, and community colleges. Model 1 is suitable for research-intensive universities. Models 2 and 3 can be successfully implemented in higher education institutions with low and limited resources with appropriate guidance and support from international organizations. The models will continually evolve mainly to meet the industry needs.

Biomedical sciences is a rapidly growing field and due to its interdisciplinary nature, it presents many unique ethical challenges. Students in biomedical sciences and engineering need training in bioethics so that they are adequately prepared to face many ethical challenges that they will face in their future career as they develop new drugs and devices which may transform the lives of our future patients.

Robotic assistance is utilized in complex surgeries due to claims citing better procedure planning, enhanced user training, and overall improved operation when compared with conventional surgery. Robot-assisted surgery seems to be an increasingly viable and acceptable option to the patient community with continual advances in technology. However, questions arise about the safety aspects of the robotic assistance in surgical procedures as there is a probability that the complexity of the constituent modules in the robotic system could lead to certain malfunctions and failures. The objective of the paper is to review the failures and safety considerations linked with robot-assisted surgery and to make recommendations to enhance certain safety features and protocols. The present project was undertaken as a research project by a sophomore student in Biomedical Engineering. Malfunctions and failures that occur during robot-assisted surgery may be broadly classified under operator errors and mechanical, electrical, and software failures. Reported electronic failures in robot assisted surgeries mention incidents of burns in patients and the ability to burn flesh due to leakage currents. Software failures in robot assisted surgeries are associated with a lawsuit detailing a situation where a surgical robot froze and the surgery had to be completed by other means. The cited paper claims that damages resulted directly from a software failure and mentions that the manufacturer had not completely eliminated the errors. Operator errors can lead to serious undesirable consequences in surgical procedures and subsequent outcomes. It was reported that a malpractice case was filed involving a mishandled robot-assisted hysterectomy. In this operation, a surgical error occurred in the hands of a not-so-skilled and not-fully-trained surgeon when both of the patient’s ureters were severed. A review of literature illustrates the increasing number of lawsuits against surgical robotic assistant systems due to the lack of standardized comprehensive training. While performing rigorous analysis and applying current technologies may lead to many solutions of the cited problems, achieving a high degree of safety coupled with no failures is required in clinical settings. A systematic approach of thorough root cause analysis of failures and corresponding corrective actions would render the constituent modules and the robotic system safe, resulting in a safer and more effective robotic procedure. A large percentage of malfunctions with robotic systems can be avoided by diligently reviewing, analyzing, and testing the modules and the entire system during the design and subsequent phases while making necessary changes and corrections. Improved safety will result in a greater acceptance of robotic assistants while potentially assuring a higher quality procedure and care delivery necessary for patients. In conclusion, detailed analysis of failures in medically engineered systems such as robotic assistants in surgery and a proposal of methods to circumvent the problem will enhance their safety, and improve product performance resulting in a higher quality robotic surgery. The techniques learned by students in this project are valuable to biomedical engineering students, especially at the undergraduate level. Key wordsSurgical robotic assistants, Undergraduate research project, robotic system failures, learning product design, product failure analysis.

The worldwide need for rapid expansion and diversification of medical devices and the corresponding requirements in industry pose arduous challenges for educators to train undergraduate biomedical engineering (BME) students. Preparing BME students for working in the research and development (R&D) in medical device industry is not easily accomplished by adopting traditional pedagogical methods. Even with the inclusion of the design and development elements in capstone projects, medical device industry may be still experience a gap in fulfilling their needs in R&D. This paper proposes a new model based on interdisciplinary project-based learning (IDPBL) to address the requirements of building the necessary skill sets in academia for carrying out R&D in medical device industry. The proposed model incorporates IDPBL modules distributed in a stepwise fashion through the four years of a typical BME program. The proposed model involves buy-in and collaboration from faculty as well as students. The implementation of the proposed design in an undergraduate BME program is still in process. However, a variant of the proposed IDPBL method has been attempted at a limited scale at the postgraduate level and has shown some success. Extrapolating the previous results, the adoption of the IDPBL to BME training seems to suggest promising outcomes. Despite numerous implementation challenges, with continued efforts, the proposed IDPBL will be valuable n academia for skill sets building for medical device R&D.

Biomedical engineering students learn product design by designing prototypes in their capstone courses using relevant principles and applying them to design a product to function properly, and to meet the specified requirements. Despite good approach to designing, building and testing these prototypes to meet the overall functional requirements, several products tend to fail in the field. A major reason for such mishaps is that the failure modes might not have received adequate emphasis in the design process. The study of failures of devices, especially in the medical field, can play a vital role in product improvement and safety assurance. The aspects of failure analysis and improving the design can be exemplified in a life-saving medical device; namely, the automated external defibrillator (AED). The objective of this project is to review the failures of AEDs, perform failure analysis, and propose corrective actions in order to achieve improvements in the product design.AED is a lifesaving device and hence it should work without any failure. Reports have been surfacing recently of AED failures and possible causes which point back to errors in the design process. Malfunction of AEDs, as a result of various errors and complications, can lead to the failure to resuscitate a patient and result in the victim's death. AEDs are complex devices comprising of electrical, electronic, mechanical, and software subsystems. Failure of any one or more of the above subsystems can cause malfunctioning of the AED. It has been reported that an AED failed due to a tolerance problem of a resistor impacting the ECG analysis circuit. AED batteries have reportedly failed to maintain the appropriate charge level to operate the AEDs. Software packages have been said to contain undetected bugs in the programming. An AED design flaw with particular models suffered from missing or covered discharge buttons intended to shock the victim. In the design review phase, these factors must be thoroughly analyzed and addressed.Utilization of failure mode and effects analysis, and simplified fault tree analysis can lead to the development of a medical device with greater reliability. The regulatory agencies also require rigorous design reviews, comprehensive testing, and continued improvement in product development. The AEDs can have better self-testing features to alert the operators other than a warning light if there are problems. Other medical devices whose performances have been impacted by design failures include external defibrillators and Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators. In the future it is intended to extend the scope of the present work to design improvements in other clinical medical devices.In conclusion, device failure is an important factor to learn from, especially for students in their interdisciplinary design projects. Introducing failure mode analysis and simplified risk tree analysis and improving the product into the design process can lead to a more reliable and hence acceptable and successful product.

Scientific advancements in multiple disciplines of engineering can be applied to a variety of industries, including defense, aerospace, and medicine. In the modern healthcare industry, for instance, biomedical engineers working with a multidisciplinary team can provide solutions to physicians to aid in disease diagnosis. In a situation such as flu pandemic it may be desirable to do rapid screening for fever detection. In an academic setting, fever screening can help in separating normal healthy students from those with suspected fever. This is the motivation to design and develop an easy-to-use low cost temperature measurement device. The objective of this multidisciplinary project is to design a low-cost, scalable, rapid, and effective device for fever screening that can be applied to a wide variety of situations, such as, classrooms or laboratories during a wide-spread flu pandemic. The project is also aimed at ensuring that the student learning leads to many of the standard outcomes. The proposed design is divided into four sections: Measurement, Control, Communication, and Monitoring. The sensor selected for the Measurement implementation is a medical grade version of the Melexis MLX90614 series of smart infrared temperature sensors. Two Texas Instruments MSP430 microprocessors are selected to implement Control and Monitoring. Communication is implemented using an 868 MHz wireless network. For laboratory testing of the proposed fever screening system, the temperature sensor is mounted on a gantry at the entrance to a lab or lecture hall and the students walk through the gantry sequentially. When a high temperature suggesting fever is measured, an alarm will sound alerting the person controlling the entrance to divert the suspected student to go to infirmary for further testing. The temperature measurement is also done with a mobile temperature scanner to screen students in line at various entrances to the lab or lecture hall. Preliminary testing has validated the feasibility of the proposed fever screening system in the mobile sensory mode. The educational aspects of this multidisciplinary project based on experimentation and lab-oriented studies are demonstrated, and the learning outcomes are promising. In conclusion, this undergraduate laboratory-developed system, applied to multidisciplinary fields shows the feasibility of fever screening in a small to medium scale subject cluster and supports the lab teaching pedagogical approach for multidisciplinary laboriented studies.

Training biomedical engineers while effectively keeping up with the fast paced scientific breakthroughs and the growth in technical innovations poses arduous challenges for educators. Traditional pedagogical methods are employed for coping with the increasing demands in biomedical engineering (BME) training and continuous improvements have been attempted with some success. Project-based learning (PBL) is an academic effort that challenges students by making them carry out interdisciplinary projects aimed at accomplishing a wide range of student learning outcomes. PBL has been shown to be effective in the medical field and has been adopted by other fields including engineering. The impact of globalization in healthcare appears to be steadily increasing which necessitates the inclusion of awareness of relevant international activities in the curriculum. Numerous difficulties are encountered when the formation of a collaborative team is tried, and additional difficulties occur as the collaboration team is extended to international partners. Understanding and agreement of responsibilities becomes somewhat complex and hence the collaborative project has to be planned and executed with clear understanding by all partners and participants. A model for training BME students by adopting PBL with international collaboration is proposed. The results of previous BME project work with international collaboration fit partially into the model. There were many logistic issues and constraints; however, the collaborative projects themselves greatly enhanced the student learning outcomes. This PBL type of learning experience tends to promote long term retention of multidisciplinary material and foster high-order cognitive activities such as analysis, synthesis and evaluation. In addition to introducing the students to experiences encountered in the real-life workforce, the proposed approach enhances developing professional contracts and global networking. In conclusion, despite initial challenges, adopting project-based learning with international collaboration has strong potentials to be valuable in the training of biomedical engineering students.

Malkin and Keane (Med Biol Eng Comput, 2010) take an innovative approach to determine if unused, broken medical and laboratory equipment could be repaired by volunteers with limited resources. Their positive results led them to suggest that resource-poor countries might benefit from an on-the-job educational program for local high school graduates. The program would train biomedical technician assistants (BTAs) who would repair medical devices and instrumentation and return them to service. This is a program worth pursuing in resource-poor countries.

Incorporating cooperative education modules as a segment of the undergraduate educational program is aimed to assist students in gaining real-life experience in the field of their choice. The cooperative work modules facilitate the students in exploring different realistic aspects of work processes in the field. The track records for cooperative learning modules are very positive. However, it is indeed a challenge for the faculty developing Biomedical Engineering (BME) curriculum to include cooperative work experience or internship requirements coupled with a heavy course load through the entire program. The objective of the present work is to develop a scheme for collaborative co-op work experience for the undergraduate training in the fast-growing BME programs. A few co-op/internship models are developed for the students pursuing undergraduate BME degree. The salient features of one co-op model are described. The results obtained support the proposed scheme. In conclusion, the cooperative work experience will be an invaluable segment in biomedical engineering education and an appropriate model has to be selected to blend with the overall training program.

Teaching engineering design in the early phases, especially in the sophomore or junior years can be very challenging. It is difficult to mimic the industrial setting to leap from concept to prototype to product in a classroom environment. By presenting a real-world problem that has a potential demand, it is possible to emulate the design steps carried out in the industry. In-class design projects consisting of paper design and computer simulation lack the final (and rewarding) stage of a physical product. Introducing prototyping can facilitate a stage in design where a physical product is necessary for better conceptual understanding, clearer visualization, and realization of the specialized problems.The objective of this paper is to present a method that provides motivation in teaching product design through rapid 3-D prototyping. The progression of a heart valve design is described along with the modeling capabilities and its possible benefits in the classroom.Rapid prototyping is the fabrication of physical objects from 3-D virtual images in a digital data set. This technology is used to make models and prototype parts for desired applications in many fields. In most projects, a designer has to conceptualize and analyze different versions of the product to be made. Selective versions of the design are then replicated on a computer using computer aided design (CAD) programs such as SolidWorks, AutoCAD, Maya, etc. After the design is made on the computer, the corresponding data is transferred into a 3-D printing machine where a physical model is made. Models can be made out of an ABS-type substance which can be hardened to yield good prototypes. Other materials that can be used are plastic, rubber, or metal. In addition, it is possible to enhance the appearance of the prototype by adding coloring to give it a more real and life-like appearance. In this project a heart valve is designed using an iterative approach to rapid prototyping technology.The first step in designing a heart valve included doing research on current solutions methods and studies of the heart valve. Using this information, several models were made using SolidWorks with varying properties. For designand prototyping purposes only two models were selected. During design reviews, some of the problems were identified and necessary improvements were made. New 3-D prototypes of the mitral valve, which is one of the valves requiring replacement in some patients with valvular disease, are being designed to alleviate the problems observed.The process of 3-D prototyping in a classroom setting will give the students a better appreciation of a real part and the progressing from conceptual design to physical design. The heart valve models will be used for educational purposes, and refined models will be used for laboratory experimental testing giving better insight into designing improved artificial heart valves. In conclusion, the approach of rapid prototyping in teaching product design with a case study of heart valves appears to be feasible.

Reliable wireless transmission of medical data is achievable in a modern telemetry setting and is put to good use. However, intercommunications among the different medical devices and initiation of controls to avoid unsafe incidents are generally not available. Interoperability among medical devices connected to a patient at a remote site is a challenging feature for practical realization that would increase safety. A new system is proposed to improve infusion therapy safety by implementing an interoperability feature coupled with a smart clinical decision support system. This system is designed to respond promptly to medication error alerts by the use of safety commands and interlocks. The design incorporates an innovative Intelligent Interoperability Supervisor (IIS) in the system which includes an infusion pump (or pumps) delivering drug therapy to a patient connected to relevant monitoring devices. A local decision support unit in IIS in the remote location analyzes the data transmitted by interface modules on the connected medical devices and verifies with preset patient-specific alarm criteria to detect presence of any crisis or to predict potential adverse episode. If the situation is assessed to be critical, IIS sends appropriate alert signals to a remote clinical care giver and control commands to the infusion pump to activate appropriate safety interlocks. Different critical situations of clinical cases are simulated in a conventional infusion therapy system (Configuration A), and in an IIS-implemented system (Configuration B). In Configuration A, there would be a significant delay between alarm occurrence and clinician intervention; such a time delay could lead to potential deterioration of patient condition. In Configuration B, clinically abnormal values are detected and the patient state is analyzed. If the situation demands, the system would promptly initiate the stop control command to the corresponding infusion pump ensuring safety and alerting the clinician to intervene quickly for better outcomes. Thus, the safety and efficacy of infusion pump therapy can be enhanced by incorporating proper interoperability functionality in the system design.