BE 491: Engineering Physiology Labs

Fall 2010

Boston University, Department of Biomedical Engineering

INSTRUCTOR
Professor Christopher L. Passaglia
24 Cummington Street, Room 203
email: psagls@bu.edu, phone: 358-0254
office hours: M 1-3PM
COURSE OBJECTIVE
The objective of the course is to equip students with the research skills necessary for a successful career
in biomedical engineering. With this in mind, the course has been structured to provide experience with:
i) applying engineering tools and concepts learned in class and in other courses to biological systems, ii)
working in teams to complete research projects, and iii) collecting and presenting data in a meaningful
and professional manner.
TEXTBOOKS
BE491 lab manual (available for purchase from Kinko's copiers)
Reporting results: a practical guide for engineers and scientists, DC Van Aken and WF Hosford,
Cambridge University Press, 2008 (ISBN 978-0-521-72348-0)optional!
REPORTS
Lab Reports are required for most labs, and they are due at the start of lab on the specified date.
Thereafter, the score is reduced by 25% of the total possible score every 24 hours. The report must be
typed, stapled, and professionally written. The content varies for each lab, focusing first on specific
report sub-sections, building up to mini-reports, and ending the semester with a full report on a
independent research project of the student's choosing. Each student must submit a report of their own
crafting unless otherwise specified. For the report only raw data may be shared among labmates (ie, not
processed data, figures, or tables) or, with instructor permission, among classmates. Plagiarism in any
form will not be tolerated! The report will be assigned a zero grade and the College of Engineering
Academic Conduct Committee will be notified!
EXAMS
The Midterm Exam takes place during scheduled lab time and tests student mastery of skills, like setting
up equipment, taking measurements, and analyzing data. There are no labs the week before the exam so
that students can use the time to hone their skills. To best prepare labmates should exchange roles during
each lab and not have one person run the show. Students must perform satisfactorily on the midterm in
order to pass the course. The Final Exam is administered during finals week and covers key concepts of
the entire course with short-answer questions.
SCHEDULE
Labs cannot be rescheduled. If one is missed due to an emergency, students should inform the instructor
when it is convenient and they must provide documentation upon return.
Week

Lecture

Labs

TECHNICAL WRITING
1
09/13
09/13-09/15

Topic

Data Presentation

Assignment

In-Lab Exercise

BIOINSTRUMENTATION
2
09/20
09/20-09/22
3
09/27
09/27-09/29
4
10/04
10/04-10/06
MIDTERM
5
6
10/18

10/11-10/13
10/18-10/20

BIOSIGNALS ANALYSIS
7
10/25
10/25-10/27

Signal Acquisition and Display

Sensors and Signal Conditioning
Spectrophotometry

Results
Introduction
Methods

Open (Exam Preparation)

Research Proposal
Exam

Time and Temporal Frequency

Discussion

BIOSYSTEMS IDENTIFICATION
8
11/01
11/01-11/03 Linear and Nonlinear Systems
9
11/08
11/08-11/10 System Modeling and Design
10
11/15
11/15-11/17 Frequency Response Characteristic

Mini-Report
Mini-Report
Mini-Report

RESEARCH PROJECT
11
11/22-11/24
12
11/29-12/01
13
12/06-12/08
14
12/13
12/13-12/15

Open
Open
Open
Open (Review)

Full Report

FINAL
15
TBD

Exam

RESEARCH PROJECT
Research projects must follow the scientific method, must contain data collected with equipment that
belongs to the student or the BE491 lab, and must apply at least one engineering principle or tool
learned in this or another course. The project should involve teams of 4-5 students from the same lab
section, and each team in the class must work on independent projects. The research topic may be
inspired by the team or selected from an idea list provided by the instructor. A project sign-up sheet will
be posted in the lab. After identifying a project, a one-page research proposal must be submitted that
gives the title, hypothesis, aims, experiments, and rationale of the project in separate sections. Only
when the proposal has been approved by the instructor may the team begin conducting experiments. The
proposal due date is midway through the semester, but it can be submitted directly to the instructor at
any time for those teams wanting to get an early start. There are no required labs for the last month of
the semester so that research teams may work on their projects. During the open labs, equipment and TF
support will be available. Each team must submit a single full report at the end of the semester with a
signed title page that briefly states the contributions of each team member.