Biomedical Engineering Design | BIOM2019 | University of Southampton

Module overview

Conventional laboratory experiments are useful mainly to assist understanding or analysis. Because they are of necessity stereotyped, they are of limited usefulness when a circuit or system must be designed to meet a given specification. The majority of engineering tasks fall into this latter category, and therefore require design or synthesis skills, in addition to the understanding of underlying engineering principles. Students on all Biomedical Engineering pathways will work together on the main design exercises to produce a software and a hardware prototype system as group projects as well as smaller individual projects. This module includes individual and team design exercises devised to provide a bridge between 'conventional' experiments and the project work in the third and fourth years, (which in turn provide a bridge to 'real' projects in industry). The exercise has real deadlines and concrete deliverables and students are encouraged to be creative, develop imaginative solutions and to make mistakes. Exercises share common characteristics: • Customer orientated rather than proscriptive specifications are given • Design work carried out, bringing academic knowledge to bear on practical problems • Laboratory sessions are used for guided development/ construction/ verification of designs • Allow students to demonstrate their communication skills in writing individual and group reports/presentations. In support of these design exercises, students will be introduced to the importance of human-computer interaction in software design and computer systems, in particular the specialist requirements for a Biomedical application. In addition, they will be introduced to some advanced simulation and design modelling frameworks and tools for biomechanical systems. They will explore how the study of human interaction affects the design of Biomedical systems, hardware and software, and improve their awareness of the issues that determine the usability of an interactive system. They will explore the analogue relationship between mechanical and electrical systems, enabling circuit problems and mechanical systems to be treated in the same framework. Combining this with modelling and analysis will develop a better understanding of vibration problems in continuous mechanical systems and allow simulation and visualisation of any mechanical implementation within the design project.

Aims and Objectives

Learning Outcomes

Subject Specific Practical Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

Design integrated systems, combining both hardware and software, and appreciate problems that occur when hardware/software domains are combined.
Undertake small scale mechanical, electrical and/or electronic construction.
Understand and interpret technical literature and data sheets.
Evaluate a design for interacting with a computer system
Design a solution interacting with a computer system
Demonstrate familiarity with the advanced use of test and measurement equipment.

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

Gain an appreciation of ethical considerations and approval processes for a project involving human subjects.
Develop a plan for the implementation of a Design Specification.
Analyse and display data appropriate to the healthcare professional in a user friendly and interpretable way.
Choose appropriate software and hardware to address a healthcare problem and design the interface between them.
Develop a Design Specification in scenarios involving uncertain, ambiguous and incomplete information.
Undertake an evaluation of the complete design and prepare a critical analysis.
Use an iterative approach to Design, identifying issues and the required rectification during the process.

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

The issues associated with designing practical systems.
The approaches used to produce a Design Specification for an artefact that needs to be designed, built and tested.
General design approaches and the processes involved in project management.
Concepts and issues associated with design problems in interactive Biomedical Engineering systems.

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

Demonstrate an awareness of team structure and dynamics, together with an appreciation of individual roles and responsibilities.
Present and explain both professional and technical work.
Write technical Design reports.
Demonstrate continual recording and development of self-study and learning across a complex set of both general professional matters and specific technical information.
Apply appropriate professional, ethical, EDI (equality, diversity and inclusion) and legal practices to your work.
Analyse technologies and solutions considering technical asp
Understand personal and group time management in a problem solving environment.

Syllabus

The module will introduce students to three facets of Biomedical Engineering: 1) Circuit design for sensor interfacing, 2) Application of machine learning and data management, 3) Implementation of integrated biomedical engineering systems. Contained within these, the design exercises will provide an opportunity for students to develop: • User orientated design focused on PPIE and RRI • Professionalism • Project management • Principles of design and evaluation • The development of individual practical skills through completion of a simple build and test exercise, incorporating the implementation of a system. • Groups of students are required to undertake a design, build and test project against a predefined specification. The project assessment includes individual log books, group reports and quality assessment of the designed system. • Effective use of laboratory equipment and test and measurement equipment. • The software development lifecycle • Introduction to rapid prototyping is provided as part of the module • Synthesis vs analysis. • Effective use of design software including CAD and simulation. • Designs optimised to meet multiple criteria and user acceptance Specific Activities are tailored to cover the different pathways, for example: Hardware: Analogue circuit design, system design, mechanical prototype design, sensors. Software: Data collection and analysis, Interaction design, user interface design, decision support systems. Specifically they will cover interaction design elements (e.g. human factors, cognitive psychology, graphics design and ethics) and how these different disciplines influence the design of interactive systems. They will also cover circuit and mechanical analogies and associated analysis techniques.

Learning and Teaching

Teaching and learning methods

This module is assessed entirely by a combination of coursework exercises, presentations and reports, along with demonstrations. There is no referral opportunity for this module. There is no external repeat opportunity for this module.

Study time
Type	Hours
Tutorial	12
Seminar	6
Preparation for scheduled sessions	12
Lecture	36
Follow-up work	18
Wider reading or practice	24
Completion of assessment task	168
Specialist Laboratory	24
Total study time	300

Assessment

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Coursework	25%
Design	25%
Coursework	25%
Design	25%

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal